Form over substance

possibilities to prove electoral irregularities under Serbian law

Abstract

The article analyses Serbian legislation and case law applicable to electoral disputes, in particular those relevant to the determination of facts in these disputes, and the potential influence of procedural rules on the efficiency of protection of constitutionally guaranteed electoral rights. Besides Serbian legislation and case law, the analysis leans on the relevant European standards, including the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The results show that in practice, electoral commissions and courts use a limited circle of means of evidence and that the evidence submitted by complainants is not evaluated in the same way as the one coming from electoral boards. Although the application of general rules on administrative disputes is explicitly envisaged in electoral laws, the Administrative Court usually defers to the decisions and reasoning of electoral commissions, without supplementing the facts within court procedure, and relatively rarely or selectively decides in full jurisdiction. The author suggests amendments to the relevant legislation, aiming at a more explicit inclination towards the relevant procedural norms or, possibly, special regulation of evidencing in electoral legislation. In her view, a more explicit direction towards the application of the rules of general administrative procedure, in particular rules on evidencing, would lead to their more consistent application in practice.

Keywords

Administrative Court;administrative procedure;elections;electoral rights;evidence;Serbia;

Data

Language:	English
Year of publishing:	2020
Typology:	1.01 - Original Scientific Article
Organization:	UL FU - Faculty of Administration
UDC:	342.8:35(497.11)(4-6EU)
COBISS:	67505667
ISSN:	2591-2240
Views:	336
Downloads:	70
Average score:	0 (0 votes)
Metadata:

Other data

Secondary language:	Slovenian
Secondary title:	Oblika nad vsebino
Secondary abstract:	Članek analizira srbsko zakonodajo in sodno prakso na področju volilnih sporov, zlasti tisto, ki se nanaša na ugotavljanje dejstev v omenjenih sporih, ter morebitni vpliv procesnih pravil na učinkovitost varstva ustavno zagotovljenih volilnih pravic. Analiza se poleg srbske zakonodaje in sodne prakse naslanja tudi na zadevne evropske standarde, vključno s sodno prakso Evropskega sodišča za človekove pravice. Rezultati kažejo, da volilne komisije in sodišča v praksi uporabljajo omejen krog dokaznih sredstev in da dokazi, ki jih predložijo pritožniki, nimajo enake vrednosti kot tisti, ki prihajajo iz volilnih odborov. Čeprav je v volilnih zakonih izrecno predvidena uporaba splošnih pravil o upravnem sporu, upravno sodišče običajno upošteva odločitve in obrazložitve volilnih komisij, ne da bi dejstva dopolnilo v sodnem postopku, v polni pristojnosti pa odloča razmeroma redko oziroma selektivno. Avtorica predlaga spremembe zadevne zakonodaje, usmerjene k večji naklonjenosti ustreznim procesnim normam ali celo posebni ureditvi dokazovanja v volilni zakonodaji. Po njenem mnenju bi bolj jasna usmeritev k uporabi pravil splošnega upravnega postopka, zlasti pravil o dokazovanju, pomenila njihovo doslednejšo uporabo v praksi.
Secondary keywords:	upravno sodišče;upravni postopek;volitve;volilne pravice;dokazi;Srbija;
Type (COBISS):	Article
Source comment:	Povzetek v slov. na koncu publikacije, str. 201.
Pages:	str. 101-120, 201
Volume:	ǂVol. ǂ18
Issue:	ǂno. ǂ2
Chronology:	Nov. 2020
DOI:	10.17573/cepar.2020.2.05
ID:	13163756