Published on 30 May 2022

SECOND SECTION

Application no. 44173/16 Borislava POŠTIĆ against Serbia lodged on 21 July 2016 communicated on 13 May 2022

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The application concerns the Constitutional Court’s alleged departure from its own case-law.

In 2013 the applicant sought a family disability benefit under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act in connection with her husband’s disappearance during the war. The administrative authorities dismissed her request. The Administrative Court upheld those decisions. On 21 January 2016 the Constitutional Court rejected her constitutional appeal.

The applicant complains that the Constitutional Court departed from its interpretation of the Veterans’ Entitlements Act, expressed in the decision Už-4763/2010 of 18 July 2013, without providing an adequate explanation for doing so. The complaint falls to be examined under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Did the applicant have a fair hearing in the determination of her civil rights and obligations, in accordance with Article 6 § 1 of the Convention? In particular, was the principle of legal certainty contained in this provision complied with by the Constitutional Court (see, for example, Lupeni Greek Catholic Parish and Others v. Romania [GC], no. 76943/11, § 116, 29 November 2016)? Furthermore, was the applicant’s right to a reasoned decision, under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, respected given the manner in which the Constitutional Court examined her case?

2. The Government are invited to provide all relevant case-law of the Constitutional Court in cases similar to the applicant’s case.