The Working Group for Chapter 23 warns that the manner in which the Ministry of Justice is conducting “public hearings” on amendments to judicial laws seriously calls into question the transparency and credibility of the process of implementing the Venice Commission’s recommendations.
On the evening of 4 May 2026, the Ministry of Justice informed the public that it would already on 6 and 7 May organize public hearings regarding amendments to laws that are to be aligned with the opinion of the Venice Commission. Such a short timeframe, without a published draft of the amendments and without providing the interested public with an opportunity to adequately prepare, indicates that this is a formal rather than a substantive inclusion of the public.
It is additionally concerning that the “public hearings” are being organized within the Ministry, even though this is a mechanism that, by its nature, belongs to the National Assembly. This further undermines the role of the parliament and erodes the procedure that is meant to ensure democratic oversight of the legislative process.
We remind the public that these are amendments to five judicial laws, known as the “Mrdić laws,” which were adopted by the National Assembly in January 2026 under an urgent procedure, without a public debate and despite critics from the professional community. These laws regulate key issues concerning the functioning of courts, the public prosecution service, and judicial councils, as well as the fight against high-tech crime.
In April 2026, the Venice Commission clearly pointed to serious shortcomings of these laws, particularly emphasizing that their solutions lead to a weakening of the guarantees of the independence of the public prosecution service. The Commission also expressed regret over the lack of an inclusive public debate during their adoption.
Despite this, the Ministry of Justice established a working group which had already begun its work by the end of April, but without publicly available proposals and without the inclusion of relevant institutions that could provide expert comments and improve the proposed amendments.
Furthermore, the High Prosecutorial Council, which declared itself competent for implementing part of the Venice Commission’s recommendations, has not fulfilled the recommendations concerning the reinstatement of all seconded prosecutors to the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime whose mandates were terminated through the application of the so-called “Mrdić laws.”
The Working Group of the National Convention for Chapter 23 calls on the competent institutions to urgently remedy all harmful consequences arising from the application of the “Mrdić laws” by implementing all recommendations of the Venice Commission. Future amendments to judicial laws must be carried out through a transparent, inclusive, and lawful process, in accordance with the domestic legal framework and international standards, in order to truly respond to the needs of citizens and strengthen the independence of the judiciary.
