Bogdan Ivanišević, partner at BDK Advokati, spoke on 23 September 2019 about Serbia’s new Data Protection Act to representatives of the leading Serbian companies. The event took place in the packed conference hall of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber co-organised the event with the Ministry of Justice.
Bogdan first gave his view on the need to remove from the sectorial laws the contents incompatible with the Data Protection Act. At the second session, Bogdan summarized for the attendees the practical steps they need to take in order to meet the new Act’s requirements. Bogdan pointed to the crucial role the data protection authority and the courts will have in interpreting the legal standards which permeate the law. The authority and the courts should closely follow the paths opened by the counterparts in the European Union. Serbian data protection authority has failed that test with its June 2019 decision which requires from data controllers to turn to the authority for prior consultation each time they conduct a data protection impact assessment. This is contrary to the GDPR and to the documents enacted by data protection authorities throughout the Union, Bogdan concluded.
The other speakers at the conference were Erne Mraznica, Head of Compliance at Raiffeisen banka a.d. Beograd and data protection officer, and Professor Saša Gajin, the main member of the expert group which drafted the Data Protection Act. Zlatko Petrović, from the Ministry of Justice, who had also participated in the work of the expert group, moderated the sessions.
