Home > 5.1 Nature of the referendum > SERBIA - Urgent Opinion on the Draft Law on the Referendum and the People's Initiative
 
 
 
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The Assembly is obliged to call a referendum within 30 days from the day of the decision it has taken on the issue (Articles 9, 10, 11). Then, the referendum may be held not earlier than 30 days and no later than 60 days from the day of calling (Article 14). Even though the period between the decision in the Assembly and the referendum is provided in the constitution for constitutional amendments, such deadline could be prolonged for other referendums. The minimum deadline set out in the draft is the shortest one recommended by the Guidelines, which recommend a considerably longer period (III.9.a). A longer period would leave time for a wider public debate. The draft law gives an advantage to the majority in parliament or those requesting the referendum as they could plan and organise their campaigning already before the adoption or even before the discussion of the issue in the parliament. The Venice Commission recommends extending the deadline between the decision of calling a referendum and the vote and restricting the discretionary possibility for the Assembly to reduce this deadline, in particular for constitutional referendums.