Implementation of Transitional Laws in Serbia 2006

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Implementation of Transitional Laws in Serbia 2006of a democratic society 89 “, or „morals in a democratic society 90 “ whichmean absolutely nothing, while in Article 54 which regulates the freedomof gathering, the reason is only the morals. It is unclear what the differenceis between „ordinary“ and the „morals of a democratic society“, as wellas why the framers of the constitution felt the need to point out that inregulating religious beliefs the morals of a democratic society should betaken into account, while that society does not have to be democratic whenit comes to the freedom of gathering.The framers of the constitution acted in a similar way when they regulatedthe reasons for banning religious communities. The European Conventionrecognizes the following reasons for limitations of the freedom ofassociation: public or national security, health or morals, preventing riotsand crime and the protection of the rights of others 91 . Paragraph two ofArticle 9 of the European Convention states:The freedom of practicing religion or convictions can be submitted to only those limitationswhich are stipulated by the law and necessary in a democratic society in the interest ofpublic safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection ofrights and freedoms of others. 92The new Constitution also accepts similar grounds for limitations of thefreedom of practicing religion 93 . The practice of the European Court hasestablished that it is possible to violate this right also by banning a religiousorganization 94 , so articles 43 and 44 of the Constitution of Serbia havenot been coordinated. Instead of taking these standard principles, withadditional warranties to do this only when necessary in a democratic societyand as stipulated by the law, the framers of the Constitution have decided todramatically widen the scope of reasons which allow religious communitiescan be banned. It is unclear how the court will interpret the regulationby which a religious community can be banned because of the violationof the right to personal and family integrity, or the right to property. Thefear remains that such regulations provide overly wide possibilities forinterpretation, especially keeping in mind the hostile relations betweenreligious communities in Serbia 95 .89 Article 43 of Constitution of Serbia, see above under 790 Ibid, Article 3291 Article 11, Paragraph 2 of the European Convention, see above under 2992 Article 9, Paragraph 2 of the European Convention, see above under 2993 Article 43, Paragraph 4 of the Constitution of Serbia, see above under 794 See the case Mitropolian church of Besarabia and others v. Moldavia95 On the position of small religious communities more in: Belgrade Center for Human Rights, Human rights in26
Implementation of Transitional Laws in Serbia 2006Conscientious ObjectionArticle 45No person shall be obliged to perform military or any other service involving the use of weaponsif this opposes his religion or beliefs.Any person pleading conscientious objection may be called upon to fulfill military duty withoutthe obligation to carry weapons, in accordance with the law.The regulation concerning the Objection of Conscience is another classiccase of the reduction of the achieved level of human rights. Althoughthis regulation had been copied from the small Charter, Paragraph two inwhich it was stated that a person pleading objection of conscience can becalled to fulfill an appropriate civil service as regulated by the law, hadbeen changed 96 . In the new Constitution, the term „civil service“ had beenreplaced by „army obligation“. While the intention of the framers of theconstitution is unclear, it is extremely important that they omitted the words„civil service“.The right to the objection of conscience is a right which enables a person toexchange their military obligation with serving in the civil service, not onlywithout weapons, but also without serving in military objects, institutionsor services. This is also clearly regulated by international documents whichprotect the right to the objection of conscience. This right had beenregulated in 1967 by the Parliamentary Assembly Resolution of the Councilof Europe number 337 97 , and later confirmed by the Recommendations476 (1967) and 816 (1977) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Councilof Europe, as well as Recommendation R (87) 8 on the right to an objectionof conscience to military service which was adopted by the Committee ofMinisters of the Council of Europe 98 .By regulating the right to the objection of conscience in this way, Serbia hasreturned to the solution which was relevant to the Law on the army from2002 99 , and which was criticized by both the local public and experts andSerbia and Montenegro 2005, Belgrade, 2006, as well as on the website: www.forum18.org96 Article 28, Paragraph 2 of the Small Charter, see above under 3697 Article 1 of the Resolution 337 of the Council of Europe98 The translations of all the documents are available in the book by the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights:Objection of Conscience, Belgrade, 200099 The law on changes and additions to the law on Yugoslav Army, Official Gazette of SRJ number 3/200227
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Implementation of Transitional Laws in Serbia 2006

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