Donor: Network of European Foundation
Duration of the project: September 2008 – February 2009
The main objective of this project was to research the national environmental legislation framework, to compare it with European standards (Acquis Communitaire) and to make the assessment of the coherence (mutual compliance) of the Serbian standards and work of the state bodies implementing the valid legislation regulating environmental issues. In 2008 authorities in Serbia had been working on the national strategy for environmental protection with which all strategies related to individual issues would be harmonized. On the other hand it was important to define strategic goals in the environmental field, to harmonize legislation with international standards and to elaborate programs and actions plans for their implementation in different environmental fields.This was the main reason to conduct this project. Thus, the researchers in the Belgrade Centre decided to conduct research on legislation and practice in the field of environmental. The BCHR researchers used media archives collated for the annual Human Rights Report for collecting and processing information on pollution. Centre used the Free Access to Information Act to monitor work of the state authorities, especially the courts and prosecution offices by sending 136 public information requests sent to municipal courts and state.
Based on the research, the BCHR produced a Policy Paper and publications that comprise the results of the analyses of the legislation, the work of state authorities and the ECHR case law.
Healthy Environment in Serbia,
ECHR case law and guidelines for Serbian courts,
Healthy Environment in Serbia
Main thrusts of environmental protection in Serbia – brief (English
In February 2009. Centre organised Round Table for expert public, on which the previously drafted texts was critically analysed. Round Table provided a great opportunity for the experts in different fields, but all dealing with environmental issues in their work (including members of academia, prosecutors, judges, representatives of NGOs and international organizations) to contribute in finalization of publications.
BCHR uses publication produced in this project in the implementation of other projects. They are widely distributed through seminars and other events that BCHR organizes. Public Prosecutors Association will use our publications to plan the curriculum for trainings for the future period. Realisation of this project enable Centre to establish a firm base for future environmental projects with the members of the judiciary and the prosecutors. In addition, the BCHR had provided the support of many prominent media such as TV station B92, weekly magazine Vreme and daily newspaper Danas.
Press Conference was held in Media Centre, Belgrade in May 2009.
