The Venice Commission, the constitutional expert body of the Council of Europe, has issued today its urgent opinion on the amendments to a set of five laws governing the judiciary and the prosecution service which were adopted on 28 January 2026. This opinion was requested by Ana Brnabić, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.
The amendments notably affected the scope of hierarchical control within the public prosecution service, broadened the circumstances in which provisional appointments and reappointments of public prosecutors and court presidents may be used, and altered the regime on the temporary assignment of public prosecutors.
In its urgent opinion, the Venice Commission acknowledges the relevance of the objectives pursued by the authorities, namely enhancing the efficiency of the judiciary and the public prosecution service, as well as improving the coherence of the relevant legal frameworks. In that context, it finds that the new legislative solution whereby the competence to decide on the temporary assignments (secondments) of public prosecutors has been transferred to the High Prosecutorial Council is acceptable.
The Commission however has identified several shortcomings in the amendments which, viewed both individually and cumulatively, undermine some of the safeguards which existed previously and were designed to protect the autonomy of the public prosecution service and judicial independence.
It therefore makes the following key recommendations:
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Individual prosecutors' objections against hierarchical decisions and annual work schedules should be decided by a commission of the High Prosecutorial Council and not by the higher-ranking Public Prosecutor's Office.
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Prior authorisation by the Minister of Justice of international cooperation agreements should not be required. These agreements should simply be notified to ensure co-ordination.
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Provisional appointments of Chief Public Prosecutors should be limited to one year, without the possibility of reappointment; furthermore, reappointments of Chief Public Prosecutors to the same office after the expiry of their mandate should be excluded.
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Temporary assignments (secondments) of public prosecutors should only be possible to positions at the same level and should not be renewable.
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A mechanism should be introduced to ensure that the Public Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime is adequately staffed through ordinary appointments. Pending the implementation of such a mechanism, all the public prosecutors whose temporary assignments were terminated before their expiry pursuant to the amendments should be reinstated to safeguard the continuity of ongoing investigations.
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Greater autonomy should be granted to the Special Department for Cybercrime, with due respect for its specialised role and its nationwide jurisdiction.
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The fixed terms of office of court presidents should be non-renewable as a rule, with limited exceptions for small courts.
The Venice Commission also underlines that legislative changes in such important areas for society should be prepared with due respect for the principles of transparency, inclusiveness, and democratic debate. Regretting that these principles were not duly followed in the process of adoption of the amendments, the Commission encourages the authorities to apply them more systematically and more rigorously throughout the subsequent phases of this legislative process.
The Commission notes and welcomes the commitment recently expressed by the Serbian authorities to take all the necessary steps to address these recommendations and stands ready to provide further assistance in this matter, notably through the assessment of the future draft legislative amendments.
The urgent opinion will be presented to the Venice Commission for endorsement at its Plenary Session in Venice on 12-13 June 2026.
Web site of the Venice Commission
