Judiciary

The Constitutional Court rejected the proposal to declare unconstitutional and unlawful the REC decision of 24 August introducing curtained voting booths as an alternative to cardboard screens. Court President Vladan Petrov said the booths provide a higher level of secrecy of the vote, but that the Court did not examine how the rules will be applied or possible abuses during voting. The reasoning has not been published. Students, opposition parties and two REC members had argued that the booths make it easier to photograph ballots.

On 17 July 2026 the Government submitted to the National Assembly a draft Law on the Judicial Academy, with accompanying amendments to the Law on Judges and the Law on Public Prosecution. The package makes a certificate of completed Academy training the mandatory precondition for a first appointment as a judge or prosecutor, confirming the Academy as the single entry point into both professions. It entered procedure a day after the Venice Commission's urgent opinion, which found key recommendations implemented but insisted the legislative process remain transparent and inclusive.

On 1 July 2026, the Basic Court in Pancevo found ETF student Andrej Tanko guilty of obstructing an official under the Law on Public Order and Peace, sentencing him to a suspended six-month prison term with a two-year probation period. The charge concerned an August 2025 protest during which Tanko allegedly sprayed a police officer with water. His defense called the process politically motivated and announced an appeal to the Higher Court in Pancevo. Tanko became a symbol of non-violent student resistance in December 2024.