Legal instruments:

Within Article 42 of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, it is stipulated that “everyone shall have the right to be informed about personal data collected about him/her, in accordance with the law, and the right to court protection in case of their abuse”.

As previously mentioned, the data subject may initiate an appeal before the Commissioner. The Commissioner is obliged to decide upon appeals within 30 days of lodging at the latest and an administrative dispute may be initiated against the Commissioner’s decision.

According to the Law on Personal Data Protection adopted in 2008, the Commissioner’s decisions on appeals are binding, final and enforceable. In theory, the Government is obliged to ensure, where necessary, that the Commissioner’s decisions are enforced. In practice, this was proven to be difficult to implement due to numerous reasons.

The new Law on Personal Data Protection stipulates that a data subject may submit a complaint to the Commissioner, but it also foresees other legal instruments, such as directly initiating administrative and legal proceedings before courts. Moreover, the new Law foresees legal protection against the Commissioner’s decisions.

The implementation of and compliance with this Law is supervised by the Commissioner.Supervision can be initiated by knowledge acquired ex officio or learned from appellants or third parties.

Transborder Transfer of data out of the Republic of Serbia is allowed to a state party to the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data. Data can be transferred to a state that is not a party to the Convention if its regulation provides a level of data protection equivalent to that envisaged by the Convention. The Commissioner shall determine whether the requirements are met and safeguards put in place for the transfer of data from the Republic of Serbia and shall authorize such transfer.

In 2019, the field of personal data protection in Serbia will most certainly undergo substantial changes, the effects of which will become visible starting from August next year.