The Coalition for Access to Justice (Coalition) submitted on 24 January the initiative for assessing the constitutionality of the recently adopted Law on Civil Procedure, whose application starts on 1 February 2012 , and which, as stated in the initiative, limits access to justice and threatens the freedom of thought, action and critical opinion. Because of the possible irreparable harm to the citizens of Serbia, the submitting organisations proposed to the Constitutional Court to suspend the implementation of the disputed provisions until a decision on their compliance with the Constitution and ratified international documents is brought.

The submitted initiative for assessing the constitutionality refers to Articles 85, 170, 193, 499 and 500. These provisions relate to the requirement of professional legal representation in civil procedures, the position of the Republic of Serbia as defendant and the procedure for the protection of collective rights and interests.
The following organisations are the members of the Coalition for Access to Justice: Center for Advanced Legal Studies, Civil Rights Defenders, CHRIS - Network of the Committees for Human Rights in Serbia, Humanitarian Law Center, Youth Initiative for Human Rights, Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina, Sandzak Committee for Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms and Praxis.

Download: Initiative for accessing the constitutionality of the Articles 85, 170, 193, 499 and 500 of the Law on Civil Procedure