MIT: It is legally established that the members of the Board of Directors of public services continue to operate.

As can be concluded from the document reviewed by UNS, RTS requested an opinion from the ministry regarding the application of the Law on Public Media Services related to the termination of the mandate of the members of the Board of Directors of this public media service.

This interpretation, MIT emphasized, "does not represent an extension of the legally prescribed mandate but ensures the continuity of the function until the objective legal obstacle to the election of a new composition of the Board of Directors is removed."

It is, MIT adds, a "temporary legal regime" that lasts exclusively until the Council of REM is able to announce a competition and conduct the election of the members of the Board of Directors.

In response to UNS's questions regarding the continuation of the work of the boards of public services, neither the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications nor RTS responded for three days. Neither the presidents of the Boards of RTS and RTV, Branislav Klanšček and Marko Ćalić, were willing to answer UNS's questions.

According to the letter from RTS, MIT provided the opinion acting in accordance with the Law on state administration.

"Considering that the mandates of certain members of the Board of Directors are expiring, and that the Council of REM, which is legally authorized to announce a public competition and appoint new members, has not been constituted, a situation has arisen that is not explicitly regulated by the Law," the opinion states.

The Law, MIT emphasizes, regulates the procedure for appointing new members of the Board of Directors but does not prescribe legal consequences when the procedure cannot be carried out due to the absence of the Council of REM. "Therefore, in this specific case, there is a legal gap that needs to be filled by applying the general rules of legal interpretation, primarily teleological and systemic interpretation of the Law," stated MIT.

The Board of Directors, they state, as an organ with significant legally prescribed competencies, represents one of the essential preconditions for the lawful and unhindered functioning of the Public Media Service of the Republic.

"An interpretation that would lead to the cessation of the work of this body solely due to the inability of the competent authority to appoint new members would be contrary to the purpose of the Law and the public interest it protects," concludes MIT. Taking into account, MIT responded to RTS, the significant competencies of the Board of Directors as prescribed, primarily by Article 19 of the Law, "we believe it is necessary to ensure the continuity of the work of the members until the legal conditions for appointing new members of the Board of Directors are met."

In the opinion signed by Minister Boris Bratina on July 13, it is emphasized that the public media service serves the public interest, and that "an interpretation that would result in the cessation of the work of the Board of Directors due to circumstances that were not caused by its will or the will of its members would pose a serious risk of undermining the lawful functioning of the public media service."

Let us recall that on July 13, the five-year mandate of Branislav Klanšček, Miroslav M. Nikolić, Branko Radun, Milivoje Pavlović, and Ljiljana Đurđevac in the Board of Directors of Radio-Television of Serbia (RTS Board) expired.

Considering that the mandate of member Šćepan Praščević expired in December of last year, the RTS Board has only one-third, or three out of nine members, since July 14.

At the same time, the mandates of the members of the Board of Directors of Radio-Television of Vojvodina (RTV Board), Marko Ćalić, Aleksandar Komnenović, Borislav Pupovac, Aleksandar Čupić, and Valentina Mika, also expired, leaving the Board of this public service with four out of nine members.

Konstantinović: The letter from MIT serves as a shield for the continuation of the work of an organ without legitimacy 

UNS attorney Gordana Konstantinović states that the letter from MIT in this case "serves as a kind of shield for the continuation of the work of an organ without legitimacy."

"The opinion cannot extend the mandates of the members of the boards of public services, nor are the members whose mandates have expired obliged to comply with it. The responsibility for the now several years of inaction regarding the election of members of the Council of REM has now been transferred to the management of public services," says Konstantinović.

She emphasizes that this is not about legal gaps in the laws, but that a vacuum has occurred because the National Assembly and the relevant ministry have not performed their duties for months. "Instead of resolving the problem where it arose, in the National Assembly, MIT chose an administrative shortcut in the form of a non-binding opinion that is in direct contradiction to the provisions of the Law on Public Media Services regarding the duration of the mandates of board members," Konstantinović stated.

With the new Council of REM, a competition is also expected to be announced

According to the Law on Public Media Services, the members of the Board of Directors are appointed and dismissed by the Council of REM, by a two-thirds majority of the total number of members.

The Council of REM, as prescribed by this Law, announces a public competition for the appointment of members of the Board of Directors six months before the expiration of the mandates of the board members.

Given that the Council of REM has not been constituted for more than a year and a half, competitions for members of the RTV Board could not be announced either.

However, Dubravka Valić Nedeljković, Ira Prodanov Krajišnik, Mileva Malešić, and Rodoljub Šabić, who resigned from their positions as members of the Council of REM last December, announced on July 11 that they would participate in the work of that Council, so the constitutive session of the Council of REM is scheduled for Monday.

Council member Miloš Garić stated that, in addition to resolving outstanding issues, the new Council will very soon also deal with the election of members of the boards of RTS and RTV.

"This is one of the first tasks awaiting us. After announcing the public call and conducting the procedure, we will proceed to the election of new members of the boards of public services. At the same time, we will work on resolving a large number of applications that have been received regarding the work of electronic media, as well as requests for license extensions," Garić said for Juronjuz.

Source: UNS