Executive summary

• Author: Krstic, Ivana
• Pages: 5-11

5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. Introduction

The Republic of Serbia is a constitutional multi-party parliamentary democracy. The multi-

party National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia was established in 1991. The 11th

legislature commenced its work on 3 June 2016 and is notable for the fact that the leading

party has a majority in the Parliament, which shapes and influences current parliamentary

work in Serbia.

According to the latest census in 2011, the Republic of Serbia has 7 565 761 inhabitants.

Serbs comprise 83.32 % of th e population, Hungarians 3.53 %, Roma 2.05 %, Bosniaks

2.02 %, Croatians 0.81 %, Slovaks 0.73 %, Montenegrins 0.54 %, Vlachs 0.49 %,

Romanians 0.41 %, Yugoslavs 0.32 %, Macedonians 0.32 %, Muslims 0.31 %,1 Bulgarians

0.26 %, Bunjevci 0.23 %, Rusyns 0.20 %, Gorani 0.11 %, Albanians 0.08 %, Ukrainians

0.07 %, Germans 0.06 %, Slovenes 0.06 % and others 0.24 %. More th an six million

inhabitants of Serbia are Orthodox (84.6 %), followed by Roman Catholics (5 %) and

Muslims (3 %). Other religions are also p resent in Serbia. Almost 90 % (88.1 %) of the

population of the Republic of Serbia considers the Serbian language their mother t ongue;

the second language is Hun garian (3.4 %), followed by Bosniak (1.9 %) and the Roma

language (1.4 %).2

2. Main legislation

The Constitution of Serbia,3 adopt ed in 2006, contains a broad catalogue of human rights

and proclaims equality and prohibits discrimination (Article 21 (3)).

Serbia introduced a set of anti-discrimination laws that are almost aligned with the two EU

directives from 2000.4

In April 2006, the first anti-discrimination law was adopted: the Law on the Prevention of

Discrimination again st Persons with Disabilities (LPDPD),5 which is supplemented by the

Law on the Professional Rehabilitation and Emp loyment of Persons with Disabilities

(LPREPD).6 Some additional laws have been adopted to further support the LPDPD, such

as the Law on the Use of Guide Dogs7 and the Law on the Use of Sign La nguage.8

1 People can state ‘Muslim’ as their ethnic identity in Serbia, while the same term can be used in the context

of religious identity.

2 Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (2018), Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade,

p. 32. The Statistical Yearbook is the result of numerous statistical surveys and calculations, continuously

conducted every year.

3 Constitution of Serbia (Ustav Republike Srbije), Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 98/2006, 10

November 2006.

4 Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000, implementing the principle of equal treatment between

persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin, Official Journal L 180, 19 July 2000; Council Directive

2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000, establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment

and occupation, Official Journal L 303, 2 December 2000.

5 Law on the Prevention of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Zakon o sprečavanju

diskriminacije osoba sa invaliditetom), Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, Nos. 33/2006, 13/2016, 17

April 2006.

6 Law on the Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities (Zakon o profesionalnoj

rehabilitaciji i zapošljavanju osoba sa invaliditetom), Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia,

Nos. 36/2009, 32/2013, 17 April 2006.

7 Law on the Use of Guide Dogs (Zakon o kretanju uz pomoć psa vodiča), Official Gazette of the Republic of

Serbia, No. 29/2015, 31 March 2015.

8 Law on the Use of Sign Language (Zakon o upotrebi znakovnog jezika), Official Gazette of the Republic of

Serbia, No. 38/2015, 7 May 2015.