Serbia in Confusion after Protest Law Terminated

Ten days after Serbia's Constitutional Court Law terminated the Law on Public Gatherings on October 23, it remains unclear how to go about organising a protest as the legal situation remains in limbo.

Serbian Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic said it was absurd that because of the lack of any legislation, people could not legally organise any kind of public gathering and police could not ban any event on security or health grounds.

"I don't know what happens in this type of situation," Jankovic told BIRN.

In an attempt to clarify the situation, BIRN asked the Belgrade Police Department for permission to organise a public gathering, but the officer on duty did not know whether there were any new procedures.

"We cannot comment about the law right now. We have the old procedures. You need to fill in the application and explain the specifics of the gathering, but I cannot comment on anything about the law," the police officer said.

BIRN sent questions to Police Department in Belgrade about the procedures in force when there is no Law on Public Gatherings, but received no answer by the time of publication.

The Constitutional Court on April 9 found that the Law on Public Gatherings Law did not conform to the country's constitution because it did not clearly define where a public meeting can be organised. The court's decision came into force on October 23.

Since then no new Law on Public Gatherings has been adopted, and it remains unclear when this will happen.

New legislation has been drafted, but has been criticised as restrictive by human rights NGOs.

"If the bill passes in this form, for example, opponents of the Belgrade Waterfront [a controversial municipal redevelopment scheme] will be prohibited from spontaneous...