The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection Rodoljub Sabic sent a letter to the Government of the Republic of Serbia regarding the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Military Defense Agency and the Military Intelligence Agency.

The Commissioner commended the fact that the provisions related to secret electronic surveillance of telecommunications and information systems are harmonized with the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia in this Draft Law.

However, the Commissioner stated that the provisions related to security checks of individuals seeking employment with the Ministry of Defense or wanting to serve in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Serbia, as well as other individuals being checked by the Military Defense Agency, need to be harmonized with the Constitution further.

The Commissioner reminded of Article 42 of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia which states that "the collection, processing and using of personal data is regulated by law", and that the provisions of the Draft Law suggest that the security checks performed by the Military Defense Agency would be regulated by a by-law passed by the minister.

In this regard, the Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic stated the following:

"It is very good and very useful that there is willingness to harmonize the content of the Law with the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia after the ruling of the Constitutional Court upon the complaint filed by the Commissioner and the Ombudsman regarding the unlawfulness of the Law on Military Defense Agency and the Military Intelligence Agency which stated that electronic surveillance could be performed without a court warrant.

For the purposes of harmonization with the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, I believe it is necessary to closely examine the provisions of the Draft Law which foresee that security checks as specific cases of personal data processing be regulated by by-laws. In this regard, besides the quoted Article 42 of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, we should be reminded of another ruling of the Constitutional Court. It is a ruling from 06th of July 2012 related to the unconstitutional nature of certain provisions of the Law on Personal Data Protection. This ruling was a result of the initiative by the Commissioner himself, and it was determined that the provisions allowing for personal data protection issues to be regulated by by-laws were unconstitutional.

I am certain that the Government of the Republic of Serbia as the law maker and the Mps who will be voting for the Draft should pay greater attention to the aforementioned facts."