Constitutional Court of Serbia


The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia is the court authorized to perform judicial review in Serbia. It rules on whether the laws, decrees or other bills enacted by the Serbian authorities are in conformity with the Constitution. It is not considered as part of the judicial branch, but a court sui generis. The Constitutional Court is authorized by the Constitution itself and the Law on the Constitutional Court.
The seat of the Constitutional Court is in Belgrade. It consists of 15 judges, one of them being President of the Court.

History

The Constitutional Court of the Socialist Republic of Serbia was established on 9 April 1963 as an independent body of the Republic and designated to protect constitutionality and legality in accordance with the Constitution and within the framework of the rights and duties proscribed by the 1963 Constitution of SR Serbia. The Constitutional Law of Serbia, enacted on 25 December 1963, defined jurisdiction and adjudications before the Constitutional Court and legal effects of its decisions in a more specific manner.
The Constitutional Court of Serbia commenced its work on 15 February 1964. The Constitutional Court has upon proclamation of the 1990 Constitution of Serbia acted within the framework of absence of division of powers, where the Parliament was the highest body of state power. The Constitutional Court has through its presence and work contributed to the importance and contribution in preservation of the constitutional principles and legality.

Composition

The Constitutional Court consists of 15 judges. Five of them are elected by the President of Serbia, five by the National Assembly, and five are elected at the General Session of the Supreme Court of Cassation. Judges are elected to the 9-year term. The candidates have to be accomplished lawyers of at least 40 years of age and with at least 15 years of experience in jurisprudence. One person can be elected to the Court a maximum of two times. After the election, the judges take oath before the President of the National Assembly.
The term of the Constitutional Court judge ends after 9 years since the election, or by resignation, by retirement or by impeachment. A Constitutional Court judge may not perform any other public office or any other job at all, except for being a professor at the Law School of one of the universities in Serbia. A Constitutional Court judge enjoys immunity from prosecution.
Composition :
Two seats are currently vacant,.

Presidents of the Constitutional Court

Sources:
; Status
No.PortraitName
Took officeLeft office
1Petar Relić26 June 196331 July 1971
2Jovan Đorđević15 July 197131 December 1979
3Najdan Pašić1 January 198014 October 1984
4Radoslav Ratković18 September 19847 November 1986
5Đurđe Seničić5 May 19873 June 1989
6Miodrag Bogdanović3 June 198826 June 1990
7Balša Špadijer
7 August 199030 June 1996
8Ratko Butulija
30 June 199617 December 2001
Verona Ádám Bokros
17 December 200120 June 2002
9Slobodan Vučetić
20 June 200210 October 2006
Verona Ádám Bokros
10 October 200610 April 2007
Milutin Đuričić
10 April 200710 October 2007
Dragica Marjanović
10 October 200726 December 2007
10Bosa Nenadić
26 December 200723 December 2010
Agneš Kartag-Odri
23 December 20103 February 2011
11Dragiša Slijepčević
3 February 20113 February 2014
12Vesna Ilić-Prelić
3 February 201412 December 2016
Goran Ilić
12 December 201626 January 2017
Vesna Ilić-Prelić
26 January 201726 January 2020
13Snežana Marković
26 January 2020incumbent

Library of the Constitutional Court

The Library of the Constitutional Court was formed after the Court had been established. According to the profile of its collections, the Library of the Constitutional Court is a specialized law library. The library is in charge of collecting, storing, cataloguing, and circulating literature from different branches of law, with special regard to constitutional legislation. The Library is in possession of a large collection of monographs, serial publications, and collections of papers. In addition, it has an electronic database of legal acts.
The Constitutional Court Library owns a valuable collection of legal acts issued in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Library cooperates with the head office of Belgrade City Library, National Library of Serbia and other libraries of similar profile.