Home > 5.1.2 Referendum requested by an authority > SERBIA - Urgent Opinion on the Draft Law on the Referendum and the People's Initiative
 
 
 
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Paragraph 47
 

According to the draft law, the Government provides citizens with objective information on the issue submitted to referendum (Article 23), which “should faithfully and equally reflect the view of the parties advocating different answers to the referendum question” (Article 23.3). This is a positive step. However, this competence too should belong to an election commission or another impartial authority. Moreover, the deadline for providing such information, “which is eight days since the calling of the national referendum” (Article 23.1), raises serious concerns. It appears impossible for the various political forces to provide their opinion and for the government to prepare a document with such information in such a short timeframe, let alone the time for sending the document to the voters. This goes against the principle of legality, which is one the pillars of the rule of law and implies that legislation must be implementable The extension of the deadline is therefore imperative; however, voters should receive the information well in advance of the vote. The Venice Commission recommends revising the relevant provisions of the draft.