The Centre for Development of Civil Society (CDCS) believes that the debate in the Government of Serbia on the possibility to abolish the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and the Ministry of Religion as independent ministries, and to transfer the competences over matters related to human and minority rights to the Ministry of Justice would be a serious mistake.

CDCS warns that the situation in the area of minority rights is not at a level that would allow us to entrust management of potential crisis between opposed groups to the Ministry of Justice that is, almost by default, rather inert and slow in its reactions.

CDCS reminds that experiences from the period 2003-2005 when there were frequent ethnically motivated incidents demonstrates the need to have independent ministries for human and minority rights and religion.

“The Ministry of Justice still lacks the capacity to ensure full realization of national minorities' rights to education, information, official use of mother tongue and alphabet, national culture and effective participation in public life", CDCS comments on its web-site.

The organization adds that the Ministry is not capable, at this moment, to resolve successfully the problem of faith-based discrimination, and it lacks capacity to solve the problems of discrimination of persons with disabilities, homophobic or neo-nazi violence, adding that the abolition of the two ministries would lead to loss of already achieved levels of human rights observance in Serbia.