The Dialogue Between the National Convention and the Prime Minister Continued – the Draft Law on Internal Affairs in Focus

The dialogue between the National Convention and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, continued. The Draft Law on Internal Affairs was the main topic of the meeting. Following the announcement made by the Prime Minister at the last plenary session of the National Convention, the civil society organizations had the opportunity to discuss the possibilities of improving both the text of the draft law and ways of presenting it to the public.

Apart from the Prime Minister and members of the Working Group of the National Convention, the following participants took part in the meeting: Minister of the Interior Bratislav Gašić, Minister for European Integration Tanja Miščević, representatives of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice, as well as representatives of the Delegation of the EU and the Council of Europe.

The members of the National Convention objected to the draft of this law, claiming it negatively affected security, citizens’ rights, and the general state of democracy in Serbia. In addition, public debates did not result in quality informing the public. Issues that call for attention are police reform, operational autonomy, cooperation between the police and the prosecutor’s office, the competence of the Minister of Internal Affairs, issues of biometric surveillance, etc.

The members of the National Convention submitted a series of comments and recommendations to the relevant institutions as well as to the Prime Minister’s office, aiming to ensure the safety and protection of the human rights of the citizens of Serbia to the greatest extent possible. The representatives of the National Convention could obtain information on the level of accepted recommendations. In the future, there will be operational meetings between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Convention on this topic.