The Constitutional Court decides the questions within its competence at Session of the Constitutional Court, Grand Chamber sessions, or Chamber sessions.
Constitutional Court Sessions
1) At Constitutional Court Sessions, which include all judges of the Constitutional Court, the Court decides the following questions within its constitutionally determined competence:
- that a law, the statute of an autonomous province or a local self-governance unit, or other general act, is not in conformity with the Constitution, generally recognized rules of international law and ratified international agreements, i.e. that at the time it was in force it was not compatible with the Constitution.
- that a law which has been adopted by vote, but has not been proclaimed by a decree, is not in conformity with the Constitution;
- that a ratified international agreement is not in conformity with the Constitution;
- that the statute of an autonomous province or local self-governance unit, or other general act, is not in conformity with law, i.e. that at the time it was in force it was not in conformity with the Constitution;
- that a collective agreement is not in conformity with the Constitution;
- proscribes the work of political parties, trade-unions, associations of citizens or religious communities;
- decides in proceedings on a violation of the Constitution by the President of the Republic;
- rejects petitions for establishing unconstitutionality and illegality;
- rejects a proposition for establishing unconstitutionality and illegality of a general act from an initiative on the basis of which the decision for instituting the proceedings has been made;
- postpones publication of its decision in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia
2) institutes proceedings for establishing unconstitutionality and illegality of a general act, of its own motion.
3) decides in cases where the Grand Chamber did not reach a unanimous decision
4) passes general acts as well as individual acts that not envisaged to be passed by the Chambers or the President of the Constitutional Court by the Law and the Rules of Procedure.
At Sessions of the Constitutional Court, the Court shall also:
- periodically draft agendas for the work of the Constitutional Court and adopt the annual overview of the work of the Court;
- decide upon the number of Chambers, form standing and ad-hoc working bodies of the Constitutional Court and appoint presidents and members of the standing and ad-hoc working bodies and their secretaries;
- decide in respect of the collaboration with other Constitutional Courts and international organisations;
- make the final draft budget of the Court, adopt the budget execution plan, the annual report on the budget execution and the public procurement plan;
- adopt a decision on internal control of the budget execution;
- adopt an act on distribution of jobs and tasks within the Professional Service of the Constitutional Court;
- adopt rule book on internal organisation and systematisation of jobs within the Professional Service of the Constitutional Court;
- adopt the code of conduct of civil servants and the rules on internal order within the Court premises;
- decide in respect of rights, duties and responsibilities of the president, vice-president and the judges of the Constitutional Court, in conformity with the Constitution and law;
- appoint the secretary and the deputy-secretary of the Constitutional Court, as well as other civil servants to posts within the Professional Service of the Constitutional Court;
- decide in respect of rights, duties and responsibilities of civil servants holding office within the Professional Service of the Constitutional Court, in conformity with law;
- pass an act on the designation of cases brought before the Court;
- appoint the president and members of the Appellate Commission of the Constitutional Court;
- decide in respect of other questions determined by law, the Rules of Procedure and other acts of the Constitutional Court.
Decisions made at Constitutional Court Sessions are passed by majority vote of all judges of the Constitutional Court.
Constitutional Court Sessions are held at the seat of the Constitutional Court, as a rule once a week, and may be held outside the Court premises, if the Court so chooses.
Grand Chamber Sessions
At Grand Chamber Sessions, consisting of its president and seven judges, the Constitutional Court decides the following questions within its competence:
- determines the manner of removing the consequences arising from the application of an act which is incompatible with the Constitution and law;
- decides in instances of electoral disputes not envisaged within the regular courts competence;
- decides in respect of constitutional appeals;
- decides in respect of complaints by an autonomous province bodies, i.e. a local self-governance unit, if by an act of the government body or a local self-governance body the exercise of the competences of the autonomous province or local self-governance unit has been prevented;
- decides in proceedings on complaints of judges to a decision cancelling their term in office and other decisions of the High Judicial Council;
- decides in respect of public prosecutors and public-prosecutor deputies complaints to decisions cancelling their term in office;
- initiates proceedings for establishing unconstitutionality, illegality or incompatibility with the generally recognized rules of international law and ratified international agreements;
- resolves the conflict of competences between government and other bodies, in conformity with the Constitution;
- suspends the execution of individual acts or actions, and cancels the measure of suspension or rejects a request for the suspension of execution or an individual act or action;
- postpones entering into force decisions made by autonomous province bodies;
- rejects initiatives for the assessment of constitutionality and legality if they are found unacceptable;
- determines the manner of enforcement of a Constitutional Court decision or ruling;
- suspends proceedings in cases envisaged by law;
- rejects propositions for the assessment of constitutionality or legality of a general act in respect of which it had already ruled, if from the newly submitted quotes, reasons and evidence it cannot be concluded that there are grounds for re-deciding the case;
Decisions or rulings made at Grand Chamber sessions are adopted unanimously, and if unanimity cannot be reached, decisions or rulings are made at the Session of the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court has two Grand Chambers the composition of which is determined by the President of the Constitutional Court in the annual workload distribution plan of the Constitutional Court.
Chamber sessions
Chamber sessions include three judges of the Constitutional Court, one of which is the Chamber president, and they adopt:
- decisions on inadmissibility of constitutional appeals if procedural presuppositions have not been met;
- conclusions rejecting propositions or initiatives for the assessment of constitutionality and legality of general acts and other requests when the procedural presuppositions for its deciding are lacking;
- decides in respect of the issuer of a disputed act’s request that the proceedings be suspended;
- suspends proceedings when the request for the assessment of constitutionality and legality of a general act has been withdrawn, i.e. when the initiator forsakes his request for the assessment of the constitutionality and legality of a general act or due to the cassation of other procedural presuppositions for conducting proceedings.
Rulings and conclusions made at Chamber sessions are made unanimously, and in case unanimity cannot be reached, rulings or conclusion are made by the Grand Chamber. The number of Chambers is determined by majority vote of all judges of the Constitutional Court, while the president and members of Chambers are determined by the President of the Constitutional Court in the annual workload distribution plan of the Constitutional Court.
The manner the Constitutional Court operates and decides at the Court's Sessions, as well as at Grand Chamber and Chamber sessions, is more closely regulated by the Rules of Procedure.
Preparatory Sessions and Consultative Meetings
The Constitutional Court may hold preparatory sessions, consultative meetings and other sessions, in conformity with the Rules of Procedure.
The preparatory session, which is held for the purpose of clarifying complex constitutional and legal matters, is convened by the President of the Constitutional Court of his or her own motion, at a request of the judge-rapporteur or subsequent to a conclusion made by the Constitutional Court. The judge-rapporteur prepares a report on the disputed question for the preparatory session and, if necessary, proposes that a public hearing or a consultative meeting be held.
The consultative meeting on questions of relevance for deciding the subject-matter is convened at a request of the judge-rapporteur or by the President of the Constitutional Court, of his or her own motion, and may be held also solely by the judge-rapporteur, with a prior consent of the President of the Court. Invitees to consultative meetings are representatives of various bodies and organisations, scholars, public figures and other experts and, when the Court so chooses, also parties to the proceedings.