Amendment of the Law on Defence and Law on the Serbian Armed Forces: One step forward, three steps back

The authors identified some positive trends as well as some missed opportunities and inadequacies concerning the latest provisions to amend the Laws on Defence and on the Serbian Armed Forces.

One of the goals of the forthcoming session of the National Assembly of Serbia will be the amendment of the Law on Defence (henceforth LD) and the Law on the Serbian Armed Forces (LSAF). Even though a new government is yet to be formed, the Ministry of Defence has organised a public consultation on draft amendments of the two laws. That is the opportunity to present and discuss some significant changes the amendments will introduce but also to highlight provisions the legislature has failed to introduce in spite of several years of pressure from the expert community.

The authors of the analysis pointed out that the strengthening of the role of the Defence Inspectorate is certainly commendable. On the other hand, an opportunity has been missed to properly regulate the rights of defence sector unions and the relationship between the military and civil society. There is also room for improvement in provisions governing logistical support, documents pertaining transfers and also disciplinary offences.