THE REDUCTION OF THE AMOUNT OF PENSION AS A VIOLATION OF THE RIGHT TO PROPERTY
THE REDUCTION OF THE AMOUNT OF PENSION AS A VIOLATION OF THE RIGHT TO PROPERTY

Summary/Abstract: In 2014, the Republic of Serbia adopted the Law on the Temporary Regulation of the Manner of Paying Pensions. The very content of the Law contradicts the title, given that it does not prescribe to which period of time it shall apply, and as it substantially reduces pensions, affect pensioners as a particularly vulnerable group in Serbia. The authors raise the question of whether the reduction of pensions, implemented over a four-year period based on this law constitutes a violation of the property rights under Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. In finding answer to the question of whether this interference by the state is justified or constitutes a violation of the right to property, European Court of Human Rights, as in other cases regarding a possible violation of protection of property, conducts the so-called justification test, and asks the usual series of questions. Following these questions and the answers to them, the Court has concluded that the reduction of pensions in the Republic of Serbia did not lead to a violation of Article 1 of Protocol 1. The authors note that the ECtHR, when making decisions, to a certain extent, implemented a policy of non-interference in internal relations, meaning that countries have a wide margin of appreciation on issues of general social and economic policy, emphasizing that this also applies to the area of pensions. Such a position of the ECtHR is the subject of review and criticism by the authors. The authors also analyze the decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia, regarding the aforementioned reduction of pensions. The authors are particularly interested in the large number of separate opinions on the decisions of the Constitutional Court in these cases, analyzed in light of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1.

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