“SPECIAL PERMIT FOR DEMOLITION”: Here is What the New Draft Law on the General Staff States!

The Draft Law on the location of the former General Staff building, for which the Government signed a contract with the American company of Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, reached the agenda of today’s session of the Serbian Parliament under an urgent procedure.

The Draft Law introduces a series of drastically shortened deadlines and special procedures, including the possibility of issuing a demolition permit in just eight days, even before obtaining the main building permit.

While the government justifies the urgency with the condition of the structure, the non-governmental sector and students warn of potential corruption and the collapse of the state’s legal system.

Justification for Urgency and New Deadlines

As the key reason for adopting this lex specialis, the Government states that the structures are in a condition that threatens further collapse, which “creates disproportionate financial and other difficulties and jeopardizes their purposeful reconstruction.”

To speed up the process, the law stipulates that public inspection of the planning document lasts only 15 days, and the same 15-day deadline is given to all competent institutions to issue the necessary conditions, which is significantly shorter than the regular procedure.

Special Permit for Demolition

The most important innovation introduced by the law is the “decision on a special building permit for conducting preparatory works.”

This allows the investor to begin “the demolition of existing structures on the parcel,” clearing the site, and carrying out earthworks even before obtaining the main building permit.

The body responsible for issuing this permit, which is the relevant ministry, is obligated to issue it within only eight days of submitting the proper documentation. The law specifies that this decision is “final” and “cannot be appealed,” but only an administrative dispute can be initiated, which significantly limits the legal possibilities for challenging the demolition.

Reactions and Corruption Allegations

The informal community of judges and public prosecutors “Odbrana struke” (Defense of the Profession) requested an urgent assessment of the constitutionality of the Draft Law from the Constitutional Court and the State Attorney’s Office. The Draft Law arrived at the Parliament on a non-working day—Sunday, November 2nd—but was nevertheless included on the session’s agenda.

“Therefore, the so-called ‘Draft Law’ can only be considered an initiative for its adoption, while the time of submission and inclusion on the agenda as a ‘Draft Law’ represents unconstitutional and unlawful action by a political group and the President of the National Assembly,” stated this informal group of judges and prosecutors.

The organization Transparency Serbia assessed that this proposal represents a combination of the two most dangerous forms of corruption—the legalization of law violations and the adjustment of rules to hidden interests.

Students in the blockade are even harsher, viewing the adoption of the law as an attempt to cover up illegal activities.

“While the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime is conducting an investigation into abuses of official position and falsified documentation (…) the government is trying to ‘legalize’ the committed crime through a lex specialis and free the criminals from the consequences of the same,” their statement reads.

Memorial Decided by the Government

Although the General Staff complex was a cultural monument, the proposed law’s solution for preserving the memory is the erection of an “appropriate memorial (commemorative monument).”

However, the key novelty is that the decision on its appearance and construction will not be made by institutions for the protection of cultural monuments, but by the Government of Serbia, based on the proposal of the relevant ministry.

Furthermore, an investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime is underway into how the General Staff lost its status as a cultural asset. This investigation recently included Acting Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, Slavica Jelača, who is suspected of the extended criminal offense of abuse of official position as an accomplice.

Before Jelača, the suspected directors of the Institute, Goran Vasić and Aleksandar Ivanović, had admitted the actions they are charged with, which is the falsification of documentation based on which they submitted an Initiative to the Ministry of Culture to cease the status of the Serbian Army General Staff buildings as a cultural asset, the TOK announced.