The Decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia on the extradition of the President of Serbia Slobodan Milošević to the International Hague Tribunal is unconstitutional.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia violated the Constitution and laws by passing the Decision 05 No. 713-6483/2001 in order to extradite the President of Serbia, Slobodan Milošević, to the Hague Tribunal. The cited decision was passed on Vidovdan on June 28, 2001, to enter into force immediately, and Milošević was immediately extradited to the Hague Tribunal on the basis of it.

Relying on the Constitution and laws of Serbia, which prohibit the extradition of domestic citizens to foreign countries or organizations, the Democracy Development Fund requested on June 30, 2001 from the Federal Constitutional Court and the Constitutional Court of Serbia to declare this decision unconstitutional and illegal.

Ruling on the constitutionality and legality of the Government Decision, on the basis of which the President of Serbia was extradited to a foreign tribunal, the Federal Constitutional Court rendered on March 26, 2002 the DECISION III U no. 139/01, 151/01, 154/01, 168/01 and 241/01, stating:

" It is established that the decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, 05 reference 713-6483 / 2001, dated 28 June 2001 (" RS Official Gazette "No. 37/2001) was inconsistent with the Constitution of the FRY and the Criminal Procedure Code (" Official Gazette of the SFRY "No. 4/77, 14/85, 74/87, 57/89, 3/90 and" Official Gazette of the FRY "No. 27/92 and 24/94). This Decision was made by: President of the Federal Constitutional Court Judge Milan Vešović and judges - Milorad Gogić, Milomir Jakovljević, LL. M. and Veselin Lekić, while Judge Prof. Dr. Momcilo Grubač singled out his opinion. Link (DECISION OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT)

The Federal Constitutional Court finds that the Statute and Rules of the International Tribunal have not been implemented in the legal order of FR Yugoslavia, because they have neither been ratified nor published in the way the general acts of domestic or international law are.

Furthermore, the Federal Constitutional Court considers that the SFRY Constitution does not allow the extradition of Yugoslav citizens, because the provisions of the FRY Constitution, as the basic law in FR Yugoslavia, have the supremacy in the hierarchy of legal regulations. Such a position, as it is stated, is also guaranteed by international conventions: such as Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ratified by the SFRY and published in the Official Gazette of the SFRY No. 17/71), which explicitly provides that no one may be deprived of liberty except for the reasons and in accordance with the procedure provided for by law ...

Also, the Federal Constitutional Court considers that Security Council Resolution No. 827 on the Establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal does not fall under international law, which is an integral part of the internal legal order under Article 16 of the FRY Constitution.

As to the proceedings before the Constitutional Court of Serbia, by letter No. I U-153/2001 of 14 November 2002, the Constitutional Court of Serbia informed the applicant - the Democracy Development Foundation , that it ruled to suspend the proceedings, bearing in mind that the Federal Constitutional Court had already determined that the disputed Decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia was inconsistent with the Constitution of the FRY and the Law on Criminal Procedure.