The present request differs from those previously made by the Parliamentary Assembly to the Venice Commission by its broad character and the focus on the “functioning of the institutions”, while the Venice Commission and ODIHR, when providing legal opinions or joint opinions, normally assess constitutional and legal texts and not their implementation. The Venice Commission has considered, in consultation with the Assembly, that this request should be interpreted to cover the electoral framework, including the way in which elections are held and the exercise of freedom of association, assembly and expression in connection with them, as well as the process of preparation and holding of the recent constitutional and ongoing legislative reforms relating to the judiciary (mentioned in chapter I). The present joint opinion, therefore, considers the Serbian electoral legislation in the broader sense and focuses mostly on the following five pieces of legislation:

• The Law on the election of members of parliament (CDL-REF(2022)051) (LEMP)
• The Law on the election of the President of the Republic (CDL-REF(2022)053) (LEPR)
• The Law on local elections (CDL-REF(2002)054) (LLE)
• The Law on the unified voter register (CDL-REF(2022)055) (LUVR)
• The Law on financing political activities (CDL-REF(2022)056) (LFPA)