CONSTITUTIONAL APPEAL IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

Abstract

One of the essential features of a state governed by the rule of law is the normative existence, exercise and protection of human rights and freedoms of citizens. No matter how different the catalogue of human rights in a country may be, the meaning of the constitution of that country can only be achieved by establishing adequate mechanisms for their protection. In the Republic of Serbia, the 2006 Constitution introduced a constitutional complaint as a special means of protecting human rights, through which citizens can directly address the Constitutional Court in the event of a violation of their constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms. The paper indicates who the holders of the right to file a constitutional complaint are, but also how the procedure following a declared constitutional complaint is carried out. The central part of the paper is dedicated to narrower organizational formations, embodied in the Grand and Small Chambers, as well as their influence on the established practice of the huge number of declared constitutional complaints. The last part of the paper focuses on the various effects that characterize the decisions of the Constitutional Court when deciding on constitutional appeals.