The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights has completed its 2014 Annual Report on Human Rights in Serbia. BCHR’s analyses confirm that the enjoyment of specific human rights in Serbia deteriorated in 2014 over the previous year, particularly in the areas of social and economic rights, the freedom of expression, the status of independent regulatory authorities and judicial reform.They also lead to the conclusion that not much headway was made with respect to the rule of law, improvement of democratic procedures and judicial protection of human rights in the year behind us. Arbitrary enforcement of the law and lack of uniform case law seriously jeopardised the principle of legal certainty, prerequisite for the harmonious functioning of any legal order. Judicial protection was undermined in 2014 by the reorganisation of the court network and the inability and lack of will of the government representatives to reach an agreement with lawyers, who had been on strike for months; in result, the judicial system was not operational for more than half a year.
The BCHR will present its 2014 Report in April and May 2014 at public debates on the state of individual rights and the status of vulnerable categories of the population, which it will organise in the Human Rights House, and hopes to include the general public in the discussions on its findings. We will inform you of the dates and times of the public debates in the near future.
The electronic version of BCHR’s 2014 Report is available here and hard copies may be obtained in BCHR’s office in Kneza Miloša Str. 4, Belgrade.
The translation of the Report was supported by the OSCE Mission in Belgrade. We would like to use this opportunity to thank the OSCE Mission for supporting BCHR’s endeavours to help improve human rights in Serbia.
