October 31, 2024
The European Commission’s recommendation that Serbia’s Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) be made independent, and that new members of its Council be elected by 4th November, certainly won’t be implemented.
Specifically, the law envisages new members of the REM Council being elected by 4th November, meaning that Serbia will no longer have a legitimate body to bring decisions on electronic media after that date. To date, the national assembly hasn’t even launched an initiative to elect new members of the Council.
According to legal experts who spoke to the portal Cenzolovka, in the case that existing members of the REM Council continue to work, their decisions will be legally invalid.
According to Serbian Information Minister Dejan Ristić, the National Assembly will not select new REM Council members until the Constitutional Court decides on the request of current members to evaluate the constitutionality of the provision of the Law ordering the expiry of their mandates and the election of new Council members.
How long the case before the Constitutional Court will last remains unknown. The current composition of the Constitutional Court has already shown that it brings decisions in accordance with the orders of the executive government, as was the case recently regarding the interests of company Rio Tinto, which is continuing to work on preparations to mine lithium and has government support despite mass protests staged by citizens and environmental activists.
