Legal provisions for direct democracy at the local level

Serbia, Constitution 2006, accessed 20 December 2021

Article 188: General provisions

Local self-government units shall be municipalities, towns and the City of Belgrade. The territory and seat of a local self-government unit shall be specified by the Law. Establishment, revocation or alteration of the territory of a local self-government unit shall be preceded by a referendum on the territory of that local self-government unit.

Article 191: Municipal legal acts and bodies

The Statute shall be the supreme legal act of the municipality. The Statute shall be adopted by the Municipal Assembly. The Municipal Assembly shall pass general acts within its competences, adopt the budget and annual balance sheet, adopt the development plan and the municipal spatial plan, schedule the municipal referendum and perform other duties specified by the Law and the Statute.

Serbia, Law on the Referendum and the People’s Initiative (December 2021) [in Serbian], accessed 20 December 2021

Subject of the Referendum in Local Self-Government Unit

Article 54. In a referendum that is called on the territory of a local self-government unit or on a part of its territory (referendum in a local self-government unit), citizens shall vote on issues determined by the statutes of the local self-government unit and on issues falling within the competence of the assembly of the local self-government unit determined by the decision of that assembly made upon request of the majority of the total number of councillors or upon request submitted by not less than 10% of voters

with the permanent residency in the territory of the local self-government unit. Issues determined by the statutes of the local self-government unit as the competence of the assembly of the local self-government unit, with the exception of the issues determined under Article 48 of this Law, may be the subject of a referendum in the local self-government unit.

A Referendum in a Local Self-Government Unit at the Request of Citizens

Article 55. The request to call a referendum shall be submitted to the assembly of the local self-government unit in writing, along with a reasoning regarding the act and/or question submitted to the referendum.

If the conditions prescribed by this Law have not been fulfilled, the assembly of the local self-government unit shall grant the proponent an additional 15-day time limit to remedy the deficiencies.

If the proponent fails to remedy the deficiencies within the time limit referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, assembly of the local self-government unit shall render a decision rejecting the request.

When a certain number of voters determined by the law submit a request to call a referendum, and the assembly of the local self-government unit considers that it involves an issue not falling within its competence or that it is not in compliance with Article 48 of this Law or the statutes of the autonomous province or the statutes of local self-government unit, the assembly shall make a decision rejecting the request, at its first subsequent session.

If the assembly rejects the request for calling a referendum at the request of voters, the proponent may file an action with the Administrative Court if he considers that the assembly has acted wrongfully in deciding on the request for calling a referendum.

The action shall be filed within 15 days from the date of receiving the decision of the assembly or from the expiry of the time limit for taking a decision.

The Administrative Court shall rule on the action within 30 days from the day of receiving the action and its ruling on the action shall be final.

Notion of People's Initiative

Article 56. By a people's initiative, citizens propose the adoption, amendment, or repeal of the Constitution, laws, other regulations and general acts within the competence of the National Assembly, and/or of the statute, other regulations and general acts within the competence of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province and local selfgovernment units, and submit other proposals in accordance with the Constitution and the law, and/or the statute of the autonomous province and local self-government unit.