The parallelism of Serbian constitutional norms on the concept and competences of autonomies

Abstract

Serbia is a decentralised unitary state comprising two territorial autonomies - the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija. The autonomies are constitutional institutions (categories), which means that their status is generally regulated by the Constitution. However, this regulation primarily concerns Vojvodina, whereas Kosovo and Metohija's status will be determined by a special law, which will embody the constitutionally proclaimed 'substantial autonomy'. The Constitution determines the concept and competences of provinces through six articles, leaving the more specific regulation to the law and provincial acts. The paper critically describes this constitutional regulation, with the major remark that some provisions are redundant as they are, unacceptably, simply repeated.