Judge and professor of the Faculty of Law, Vladan Petrov, was elected president of the Constitutional Court. His name is more associated with the defense of the government and attacks on students than with the independence of the judiciary
Judge of the Constitutional Court Dr. Vladan Petrov today is the 2nd session of the Constitutional Court was unanimously elected as its president and took office, it was announced from this institution.
Petrov was nominated for the position of President of the Constitutional Court by ten judges with the explanation that, among other things, as a judge of the Constitutional Court during his term of office so far, he has demonstrated high expertise in the preparation of decisions in cases in which he was in charge as a reporting judge, both in the field of constitutional appeals and in the field of normative control, according to the announcement.
"In addition, with his constructive proposals and suggestions at the sessions of the Constitutional Court, the Grand and Small Chambers, he made an important contribution to making quality decisions even in cases in which he was not a judge-rapporteur. The proposal also states that the fact that Judge Petrov was elected as a judge of the Constitutional Court in 2019 is also significant for the continuity of the work of the Constitutional Court, which makes him an important link between the current and new composition of the Constitutional Court, and that Judge Petrov, as the President of the Court, with his knowledge, will with experience, personal integrity and organizational skills to responsibly and successfully perform the function of the president of the Constitutional Court", the announcement states.
"Dr. Vladan Petrov was born on July 4, 1975 in Smederevo. He was elected full professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Belgrade in 2016. He is a member of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe since 2021. He is the editor of the journal "Archive for Legal and Social Sciences" and a member of the Scientific Society of Serbia. He is the author of three textbooks on constitutional law, two co-authored and one independent, as well as several books in the field of constitutional law. He was vice dean for teaching at the Faculty of Law in Belgrade for two terms and acting dean. He was a member of the working group for the drafting of the Act on Amendments to the Constitution in 2021. He is the holder of two high state decorations - the Star of Karaฤorฤe first class and the Officer's Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit. He is the father of Bogdan and Dimitra," read his official biographical data.
He was appointed as a judge of the Constitutional Court by the General Session of the Supreme Court of Cassation. He assumed the duties of a judge on May 9, 2019, by taking the oath before the President of the National Assembly.
Vladan Petrov's name has become known to the wider public since the beginning of the student protests, because he is one of the few professors from Belgrade University who harshly criticized students on the streets and represented an opinion in line with the views of the Serbian Progressive Party and Serbian President Aleksandar Vuฤiฤ.
That is why some students qualified him as one of the main "cats" in the judiciary.
Petrov is a regular guest of almost all regime televisions, including Informer, where he appears as a supposedly neutral expert.
In practice, his analyzes almost without exception follow the political needs of the regime. When the question of the concentration of power in the hands of Aleksandar Vuฤiฤ is raised, Petrov explains that everything is in accordance with the Constitution; when institutions are clearly not functioning, he talks about "political reality" and "constitutional practice", relativizing the essence of the problem.
On several occasions, Petrov publicly defended President Vuฤiฤ against accusations of violation of the Constitution, insisting on informal powers, while consistently keeping silent about the formal but crucial separation of powers.
A similar pattern can be seen in his performances on the occasion of student protests. Instead of talking about the pressures on the university, the autonomy of the academic community, political repression and the causes of the student protests, Petrov questions the motives of the students, suggesting that the protests were politically instrumentalized.
That's why, after more than a year of appearing on the regime's media, almost no one was surprised by today's news about his appointment as president of the Constitutional Court.
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