Parliamentary control of the security sector in the Republic of Serbia

One among many problems that transition states face with is the problem of security sector reform and the establishment of the system of democratic and civil control over this sector. The crucial role within democratic and civil control should be played by parliament, i.e. the key element in this process is the responsibility of security sector to parliament. In realization of the control function parliament has at its disposal various instruments, such as: interpellations and the proposal for voting nonconfidence to a government, questions of representatives, parliamentary investigations, the work of permanent parliamentary committees, public hearings, budget control, as well as special mechanisms of control, above all the work of independent state organs. The successfulness of parliamentary oversight depends on three factors: legal authority, the ability to exercise control, and the existence of a critical attitude of the members of parliament to hold the government accountable. The issues in the security sector reform in the Republic of Serbia were brought to the centre of attention after the democratic changes in October 2000. In the constitutional and legal framework of the Republic of Serbia, the security sector is under democratic and civilian control. When we speak of the role of the National Assembly in democratic and civilian control i.e. parliamentary oversight of the security sector, it should be emphasized that it is achieved primarily by adopting an adequate legal framework. Apart from legislation, there are other instruments of parliamentary oversight, but the most important role within the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in democratic and civilian oversight belongs to the parliamentary Committee on Defence and Security. Bearing in mind that the domestic scientific literature has not sufficiently and coherently explored the problem of parliamentary control over the security sector in Republic of Serbia, the scientific aim of this research has been a scientific description and explanation of security sector, security sector reform and parliamentary control in general, and particularly security sector, security sector reform and the achievement of parliamentary control in the Republic of Serbia. The complexity of the research necessarily imposes a multi-methodical approach and requires a complementary analysis of available data sources. In the first part of work literature review methods were used, primarily, for review of foreign