Law on Execution and Security: "Announced changes do not protect the right to a home"

At the First Session of the Second Regular Session of the National Assembly, among the 47 items on the agenda, there was a proposal for amendment Law on Enforcement and security.

"In the past week, we went to two executions. All the people we are working with now would be unprotected according to the announced changes to the law," Milena Repajić from the Joint Action told "Vreme".A roof over your head".

What is proposed?

The amendments to the law refer to securing the right to a home, and according to the Minister of Justice Nenad Vujić, citizens are protected from homelessness.

He clarified that the subject of execution will no longer be able to be real estate smaller than 60 square meters where the debtor lives and has no other real estate. The criterion is that the continuity of the registered residence must be at least five years, that the claim alone does not exceed 50 percent of the value of the real estate, and that in the last three years he has not disposed of certain real estate.

"Thus, we protect the right to a home and prevent the occurrence of homelessness, for people to lose their only home through the enforcement procedure. In the enforcement procedure, every citizen has the right to turn to the court and raise an objection that the immovable property, on which enforcement should be carried out in the enforcement procedure, is his only home," said Vujić.

He added that the court makes a decision based on established criteria, which are clearly prescribed by law.

"In this way, we enable and protect the additional right to a home guaranteed by the Constitution of Serbia, but also by the European Convention on Human Rights, of which we are a signatory. Through these changes, we have found a balance between the executive debtor and the creditor, because we have to think about the other side, the creditor," said the minister.

What do these changes mean in practice?

Repajić explains that these changes are completely inconsistent with domestic practice.

"Today, people move much more often, change jobs, and the requirement of five years of residence in one place is too restrictive," says Repajić.

He adds that people who are in debt often try to pay off those debts, and the condition that they have not tried to sell anything in the last three years would immediately disqualify citizens from protecting the right to a single home.

"Next, the household members are not taken into account at all. This arbitrary condition of 60 square meters also excludes a large number of people. What we proposed, which is in line with, say, the tax law in our country, is 40 square meters plus 15 square meters for each family member. There are many loopholes in that law, it is restrictive and in the end when all these five points that someone must fulfill in order to be protected your right to a home are applied, it does not actually protect the right to a home," explains our interlocutor.

He goes on to say that one of the biggest shortcomings of this law is that the so-called third parties in the proceedings are not protected, which was acknowledged even by the executors.

"Third parties in the proceedings are people who have nothing to do with the ongoing dispute, but then the dispute is carried out on their property. Most often, these are those who bought an apartment in buildings, whether under construction or who have not yet received all the necessary permits, which includes a large number of people with us, because that way the apartments will be more affordable. And then investors, whether real or fictitious, pay their debts through their apartments. We often have people who find themselves in this problem. They remain completely unprotected by these changes to the law," says Repajić.

Last year, 1,8 million enforcement cases

During the year 2024, 1.817.242 enforcement cases were active in Serbia, Oblakoder magazine wrote, and the data are provided by the Chamber of Enforcement. 8.288 cases were completed with the sale of real estate, and 79 with eviction.

How many third parties will be affected is not known. The data is not separated, the Chamber of Executors said at the time.

In 2019, the joint action "A roof over your head" had a proposal to amend this law. This would include the abolition of private executors and the return of enforcement to the court, and the second direction of change is the protection of the right to a home.

"Regarding the abolition of private, or so-called public enforcers, nothing has been done. Moreover, in recent days there has been talk of expanding their powers. We have not yet dealt with that direction of expansion in sufficient detail, but we will soon," says Repajić.

However, he concludes: "If the right to a home is not protected and if the execution is not returned to the court, any change will remain a dead letter".

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