NGOs & Cultural Rights: Reflections on the Serbian legal framework

Abstract

Even though the public image of non-governmental organizations in the Republic of Serbia is not wholly positive, a significant number are operating in the cultural field, promoting and protecting cultural rights. Yet the framework in which they operate is restricted, though not directly by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia or the many other laws relevant to culture identified in this article. This article will therefore offer an analysis of NGOs‘ operations via a normative analysis of domestic law and specific major legal acts, and then consider the socio-cultural context. The aim of this paper is to present the legal norms regulating NGOs as a means of assessing the conditions for the promotion of cultural rights, and then by extension to identify the conditions for actual development. For cultural rights are, in one sense, guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, but are not fully manifest in practice. The existence of legal gaps, lack of adequate legal and financial knowledge, and the fact that the existing legal framework does not have an appropriate impact, are all factors that must be weighed and subject to critical insight.