The Provincial Assembly Decision on the Provincial Government
("Official Gazette of AP Vojvodina", number 37/2014)
Pursuant to Article 54 Para 1 and Article 31 Item 2 of the Statute of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina ("Official Journal of AP Vojvodina", number 20/2014),
The Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, at its session held on 23 September 2014, e n a c t e d
THE PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY DECISION ON
THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
1. BASIC PROVISIONS
Article 1
This Provincial Assembly decision (hereinafter: the Decision) shall regulate the composition, term of office, establishment, competences and other issues relevant for the work of the Provincial Government
All issues pertaining to the manner of conducting activities and decision-making of the Provincial Government and its working bodies, as well as all other issues of relevance for the work of the Provincial Government which are not regulated by this Decision shall be regulated in more detail by the Rules of Procedure for the Work of the Provincial Government (hereinafter: the Rules of Procedure).
Article 2
All male gender nouns used in this Decision, which have a female form as well, shall at the same time refer to female gender nouns.
The nouns denoting official positions and offices in bodies of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (hereinafter: AP Vojvodina) shall be used in the form expressing the gender of the person holding that particular position/office.
Article 3
The Provincial Government shall be the holder of executive powers of the AP Vojvodina.
The work of the Provincial Government shall be steered by the Assembly of AP Vojvodina (hereinafter: the Assembly).
The Provincial Government shall report to the Assembly for its activities.
Article 4
The activities of the Provincial Government shall be public. The Provincial Government shall be obliged to provide the public with an insight into its activities, in accordance with the regulations stipulating a free access to information of public importance and the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Government.
The Provincial Government shall inform the public of its activities by sharing information through public information services, by holding press conferences and by creating other conditions for acquainting the citizens with the activities of the Provincial Government.
2. COMPOSITION OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
Article 5
The Provincial Government shall consist of its President, one or several Vice-Presidents and members of the Provincial Government, holding, at the same time, the position of Provincial Secretaries.
The Decision on the Election of the Provincial Government shall establish the number of Vice-Presidents and members of the Provincial Government.
Article 6
The President of the Provincial Government shall represent, manage and guide the Provincial Government in line with the guidelines of the Provincial Assembly.
The President of the Provincial Government may issue mandatory instructions or assign special tasks to members of the Provincial Government and Vice-Presidents, in accordance with the programme of the Provincial Government.
The President of the Provincial Government shall convene and conduct its sessions, sign the acts enacted by the Provincial Government, see to the application of its Rules of Procedure and perform other tasks stipulated by the Statute, a Provincial Assembly decision and the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Government.
The President of the Provincial Government shall enact the acts pertaining to the appointment to and the discharge from the service of the Chief of Cabinet and the Advisor to the President of the Provincial Government whose mandate shall last for the duration of the mandate of the President.
Article 7
The Vice-President of the Provincial Government shall assist the President of the Provincial Government in performing their duties, stand in for the President in case of being absent or prevented from fulfilling their duties and perform other tasks delegated to them by the President of the Provincial Government.
The Vice-President of the Provincial Government may also be responsible for the managing of the activities of a provincial secretariat.
Article 8
A member of the Provincial Government shall be held accountable to the Provincial Assembly, the Provincial Government and the President of Provincial Government for their activities and for the situation concerning the field within their responsibility.
A member of the Provincial Government shall be responsible for decisions and measures they passed or failed to pass, to undertake the same for the purpose of implementing the mandatory instructions and special tasks determined or delegated to them by the Provincial Government and/or the President of the Provincial Government.
A member of the Provincial Government shall propose the consideration of certain issues within the competence of the Provincial Government, take part in the work and deciding on all issues discussed in the Provincial Government session, take part in the activities of the Provincial Government working bodies and in performance of other tasks within the competence of the Provincial Government, in accordance with its Rules of Procedure.
3. INCOMPATIBILITY OF FUNCTIONS FOR OFFICE HOLDERS
Article 9
The President, the Vice-President and the Member of the Provincial Government shall be obliged to act in line with the regulations stipulating the prevention of conflicts of interest in performing public functions.
Article 10
The President, the Vice-President and the member of the Provincial Government, for the duration of their term, may not start a company, i.e. a public service or perform an independent service, with respect to the law defining entrepreneurship.
The President, the Vice-President and the Member of the Provincial Government may not perform a function pertaining management, monitoring or representing private capital in a company, a private institution or a different private legal entity.
The President, Vice-President and the Member of the Provincial Government shall be obliged to, within 30 days from the elections, appointment or naming, transfer their management rights in a company to a legal entity or a natural person who is not a related party to exercise them, in their name and for the account of the President, the Vice-President or a Member of the Provincial Government until their mandate ceases.
Article 11
The President, the Vice-President and the Member of the Provincial Government may not perform other tasks or activities during the performance of the public function demanding a full-time employment.
Exceptionally of the Paragraph 1 of this Article, the President, the Vice-President and the Member of the Provincial Government may pursue their scientific and research activities, educational, cultural and artistic, humanitarian and sports activities, pursuant to regulations defining the prevention of conflicts of interest while performing public functions.
4. TERM OF OFFICE OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
Article 12
The Provincial Government shall be elected by the Assembly at the proposal of candidates for the President of the Provincial Government in accordance with the Statute.
Article 13
Term of office of the Provincial Government shall commence on the day of taking an oath before the Assembly.
On the day of their election, members of the Provincial Government shall take an oath before the Assembly, whose text reads as follows: "I swear that I will support the Constitution, law and Statute of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in my work and discharge the duty of a Member of the Government of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in a responsible and conscientious manner".
Article 14
Term of office of the Provincial Government shall last until the expiry of the term of office of the Assembly that elected it.
Term of office of the Provincial Government shall terminate prior to expiry of the period of time for which it has been elected: dissolution of the Assembly, by giving vote of no confidence to the President of the Provincial Government or the resignation of the President of the Provincial Government.
Article 15
The Provincial Government whose term of office has terminated shall only perform technical duties, it shall not propose Provincial Assembly decisions and other general acts, nor enact regulations except under the condition that there is a legal time frame for their enactment or it is required by the needs of AP Vojvodina and/or it is in the interest of defence against severe weather or other natural disasters.
The Provincial Government whose term of office has terminated shall not appoint provincial civil servants to or discharge from executive positions in bodies of the Provincial Administration, other organisations or services of the AP Vojvodina.
The Provincial Government whose term of office has terminated shall not name or discharge administration bodies in public enterprises, institutions or other organisations founded by AP Vojvodina.
Article 16
The motion for the vote of no confidence must be proposed by at least thirty deputies.
The motion for the vote of no confidence to the Provincial Government shall be discussed by the Assembly at the first following session which shall be convened no later than 7 days from the date of the proposal for the motion. The motion shall be voted on after the discussion.
If the motion for the discharge from the service of the President of the Provincial Government is not adopted, the signees of the motion may not submit a new motion before the expiry of 180 days from the date the first motion was submitted.
Article 17
The President of the Provincial Government may submit the resignation to the Assembly.
The President of the Provincial Government shall submit the resignation to the Assembly President and at the same time, inform the public on the resignation.
The Assembly shall confirm the resignation at the first following session, without discussion.
The term of the Provincial Government shall cease with the enactment of the resignation of the President of the Provincial Government.
Article 18
The term of the Member of the Provincial Government shall cease before the period for which they were elected: with the enactment of the resignation, if they are relieved of duty by the Assembly in accordance with the proposal submitted by the President of the Provincial Government, the discharge of the President of the Provincial Government from office or the resignation of the President of the Provincial Government.
Article 19
The Member of the Provincial Government who submitted the resignation or for whom the proposal for discharge was submitted shall hold the position of the outgoing Member of the Provincial Government.
The Member of the outgoing Provincial Government shall be obliged to perform regular duties until the termination of their term of office while this member shall not enact regulations within the competences of the provincial secretariat they govern, except under the condition that that there is a legal time frame for their enactment or it is required by the needs of AP Vojvodina or it is in the interest of defence against severe weather or other disasters.
Article 20
A Member of the Provincial Government may submit the resignation to the President of the Provincial Government.
The President of the Provincial Government shall forward the submitted resignation to the President Assembly, which shall confirm it at its first following session.
The President of the Provincial Government may propose to the Assembly a relief of duty of a particular Member of the Provincial Government.
At the first following session, the Assembly shall consider and vote on the proposal to relieve of duty a member of the Provincial Government.
The term of the Member of the Provincial Government who submitted a resignation shall cease on the date the resignation is confirmed and for the Member of the Provincial Government who has been discharged on the date of the confirmation of the decision on discharge.
Article 21
Powers of the member of the Provincial Government whose term of office has been terminated shall be exercised by a member of the Provincial Government delegated by the President of the Provincial Government.
The President of the Provincial Government shall be obliged to propose to the Assembly the election of a new member of the Provincial Government within 15 days from the date of termination of the term of office of the previous Provincial Government member.
Article 22
The Provisions of the Article 19-21 shall be applied for the resignation and discharge process for the Vice-President of the Provincial Government.
5. ORGANISATION OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
Article 23
The Provincial Government shall have the Secretariat of the Provincial Government, responsible for professional and operational tasks for the Provincial Government purposes.
The Office of the President of the Provincial Government shall be established within the Secretariat of the Provincial Government.
The scope of activities, organisation and other issues relevant for the work of the Secretariat of the Provincial Government shall be regulated by a special decision and the Rules of Procedure.
Article 24
The Provincial Government shall have the Secretary of the Provincial Government, who shall be appointed and relieved of duty at the proposal of the President of the Provincial Government for a four-year term and who may be re-appointed.
The Secretary of the Provincial Government shall account for their work to the President of the Provincial Government and the Provincial Government.
The Secretary of the Provincial Government shall organise the work of the Secretariat of the Provincial Government, see to the enforcement of the Provincial Government acts and preparation of the Provincial Government sessions, as well as assist the President of the Provincial Government in other duties in the frame of competences of the Provincial Government.
Article 25
The Advisory Board of the President of the Provincial Government, an expert advisory body, shall be established for the purposes of discussion of basic and other issues from the scope of the competencies of the Provincial Government.
The Advisory Board of the President shall be comprised of the President of the Provincial, Vice-Presidents and the Secretary of the Provincial Government.
Article 26
The Provincial Government shall establish standing working bodies, for the efficient work of the Provincial Government and deciding, taking stands, giving opinions and proposals concerning the issues in the frame of the Provincial Government competences, harmonising the positions of bodies and organisations of the Provincial Administration prior to the consideration of certain proposal at the Provincial Government session.
The Provincial Government may establish temporary working bodies, for the purpose of considering particular issues in the frame of its competence and giving proposals, opinions and expert explanations.
Standing working bodies shall be established based on the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Government.
Temporary working bodies shall be established by way of a decision specifying both their tasks and composition.
Article 27
The Provincial Government shall operate and decide on duties in the frame of its competence at the session attended by the majority members of the Provincial Government.
The Provincial Government shall decide by the majority votes cast by the present members of the Provincial Government.
The Provincial Government shall decide by majority votes cast by all members of the Provincial Government on establishing the draft development programme, establishing the draft budget and annual balance sheet, on interim financing and setting up the report on its activities which shall be submitted to the Assembly.
In case of an even number of Provincial Government members, the decision on issues under Paragraph 3 of this Article shall be passed if at least one half of all members of the Provincial Government have cast their vote for it, on condition that the President of the Provincial Government has voted for this decision.
Article 28
The President, the Vice-President and the Members of the Provincial Government shall not be held accountable for opinions expressed at the session of the Provincial Government, the Assembly or for voting at the session of the Provincial Government.
Article 29
Working and decision-making methods of the Provincial Government shall be more closely regulated in the Rules of Procedure.
Article 30
In addition to Serbian and the Cyrillic script, in its work, the Provincial Government shall guarantee the equal official use of the Hungarian, Slovak, Croatian, Romanian and Ruthenian and their respective scripts, in accordance with the law.
The official use of languages and scripts of national minorities-national communities under Paragraph 1 of this Article shall refer to the entitlement of a member of the Provincial Government to use their native language when addressing the Provincial Government in writing or orally and to have the documents for the Provincial Government sessions delivered in that language.
The right under Paragraph 2 of this Article shall be provided at the request submitted in due time by a member of the Provincial Government, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure.
6. COMPETENCES OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
Article 31
The Provincial Government shall propose to the Assembly the following:
1. Provincial Assembly decisions and other general acts;
2. Budget and balance sheet of the AP Vojvodina;
3. Strategies, plans and programmes within the AP Vojvodina competence, in accordance with the law and Statute;
4. Proposals for the conclusions of agreements with the appropriate territorial communities in other countries.
Article 32
The Provincial Government shall:
1. execute laws if given the authority to do so;
2. implement Provincial Assembly decisions and other general acts of the Assembly;
3. report the opinion to the Assembly, the competent working body or the President of the Assembly of the proposal of a Provincial Assembly decision or general act submitted to the Assembly by another proposer;
4. enact Provincial decrees, decisions and other general acts for the purpose of enforcement of laws and Provincial Assembly decisions, if given the authority to do so by the law or Provincial Assembly decision;
5. undertake specific measures and activities in cases significant disproportional representation of national minority-national community representatives in provincial bodies and services founded by the AP Vojvodina;
6. give consent to programmes and plans of public companies, institutions and other organisations founded by AP Vojvodina;
7. undertake specific measures for the implementation of programme, development or planning documents enacted by the Assembly;,
8. appoint or relieve of duty provincial office holders not elected by the Assembly
9. represent the AP Vojvodina as a legal entity, exercising rights and obligations AP Vojvodina is entitled to as the founder of public companies and institutions in accordance with the law;
10. establish professional bodies to be responsible for particular tasks within the competence of the AP Vojvodina, designate their members and relieve them of duty;
11. establish professional and other services bodies to be responsible for particular tasks within their in accordance with the law, the Statute and a provincial assembly decision
12. appoint, i.e. propose the managers, members of steering and monitoring committees of funds, institutions and other organisations in accordance with the law;
13. manage the property of the AP Vojvodina, in accordance with the law while regularly informing the Assembly, no later than the expiry of the first quarter of the current year for the previous year;
14. direct and harmonise the activities of the Provincial Administration bodies and organisations founded by the AP Vojvodina and supervise their work;
15. monitor the activities of the companies and institutions performing public services and other activities in issues of significance to the Province which were founded by the AP Vojvodina;
16. enact acts and undertake activities and measures within the competence of the Assembly in the event of natural disasters, technical accidents and other extraordinary circumstances, unless the Assembly is able to convene in due time;
17. submit a regular annual report about their work to the Assembly as well as extraordinary reports if requested by the Assembly
18. adopt the Rules of Procedure
19. resolve the conflict of competences between the provincial administration bodies and organisations, other organisations and services of the AP Vojvodina
20. decide on the discharge of the manager of the provincial administration bodies and organisations, other organisations and services of the AP Vojvodina
21. repeal and abolish every general and individual act of a provincial administration body or an organisation which is not in line with the Law, the Statute or the Provincial Assembly Decision within the monitoring over the work of the bodies and organisations of the provincial administration bodies in a manner determined by law, the Statute and a Provincial Assembly Decision
22. perform other tasks determined by Law, the Statute or a Provincial Assembly Decision.
Article 33
The Provincial Government may establish professional and other services for tasks within their competency for the own needs or for the joint tasks for all or individual bodies and stipulate their organisation and scope of competency.
The Service shall be managed by the director, appointed and discharged by the Provincial Government upon the proposal of the President of the Provincial Government if not stipulated differently by a specific regulation.
Article 34
The Provincial Government shall submit to the Assembly the report on its activities for the previous year until the expiry of the first quarter of the current year at the latest.
At the Assembly’s request, the Provincial Government shall be obliged to submit an extraordinary report on their work to the Assembly.
7. PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT ACTS
Article 35
The Provincial Government shall enact provincial regulations, decisions, recommendations, directives, instructions, rulings, ordinances, and conclusions.
Article 36
A provincial regulation shall regulate particular issues pertaining to the enforcement of laws, provincial assembly decisions, if the Provincial Government has been given authority to do so, in accordance with the law, the Statute or a provincial assembly decision.
A decision shall be used to establish temporary working bodies of the Provincial Government, along with professional and other services for the tasks within the competency of the Provincial Government or for the joint affairs for all or individual provincial administration bodies and organisations and regulate other issues for which they were authorised by a law or a provincial assembly decision.
A recommendation shall be used to express opinions on specific issues of general interest and manner of resolving specific problems as well as for proposing manners and measures which need to be undertaken for the purposes of resolving specific issues.
A decree shall order or prohibit activities in a specific case of general significance for the purpose of implementing specific provisions of the law and other regulations.
An instruction shall stipulate the working methods in the provincial administration bodies, organisations and services of AP Vojvodina in enforcing particular provisions of the Assembly and Provincial Government regulations.
A ruling shall be used to decide on appointment, designation and relief of duty, in individual administrative matters, on giving consent to general and other acts of bodies and organisations if such consent has been stipulated in their founding act, on cancellation of regulations and other general acts of the Provincial Administration bodies and organisations and on other issues within the competence of the Provincial Government.
An ordinance shall define specific provisions of provincial assembly decisions and other acts of the Assembly and the Provincial Government.
A conclusion shall be used to decide on certain issues pertaining to the procurement, and managing of AP Vojvodina property, on internal organisation, working methods and relations within the Provincial Government, establish the principal positions and guidelines for the work of the provincial administration bodies and organisations, administrative and professional services and take stands on other issues within the competence of the Provincial Government which are not decided on in other acts.
Article 37
Provincial regulations and other general acts of the Provincial Government shall be published in “The Official Journal of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina” before entering into force.
Other acts of the Provincial Government shall be published in “The Official Journal of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina” if the Provincial Government decides so during the enactment of the act.
8. INTERIM AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 38
Until coming into force of this Decision, standing and temporary working bodies, professional and other established by the Government of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina shall continue with their activities in accordance with the applicable regulations until their harmonisation with the Statute, this decision and Rules of Procedure.
Article 39
The Provincial Government shall be obliged, within 60 days from coming into force of this Decision, to enact the Rules of Procedure.
Article 40
Upon coming into force of this Decision, the Provincial Assembly Decision on the Government of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina ("The Official Journal of AP Vojvodina" No. 4/2010) shall cease to be in force.
Article 41
This Decision shall come into force on the eighth day from the date of its publication in the "Official Journal of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina".
ASSEMBLY OF THE AUTONOMOUS PROVINCE OF VOJVODINA
Novi Sad, 23 September 2014
PRESIDENT OF
THE ASSEMBLY OF AP VOJVODINA
Pásztor István, signed
(Pásztor István, s.k.)