The purview of the Ministry of Justice is determined under the Law on Ministries, and includes public administration activities regarding:
- criminal, economic offence and misdemeanor legislation;
- contractual relations; inheritance; court proceedings other than bankruptcy proceedings; organization and activities of judicial authorities; Bar examinations; professional specialization of judicial office holders and public notaries; expert witnesses, court interpreters and translators;
- enforcement of criminal sanctions; rehabilitation, amnesty and pardon; extradition; data collection on crimes against humanity and other entities protected by international law; passing decisions on extradition of defendants to the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, and to the International Criminal Court, based on final and enforceable court decisions;
- witness protection programs; law practice and other judicial professions; the court guards; statistics and analysis of the performance of judicial authorities; international legal assistance; management of seized assets derived from criminal activity;
- creating conditions for access and realization of projects within the purview of the Ministry, financed by pre-accession funds of the European Union, donations and other forms of development assistance;
- representation of the Republic of Serbia before the European Court of Human Rights, publishing its judgments relating to the Republic of Serbia, and monitoring their enforcement; drafting regulations on proceedings before the Constitutional Court and legal effects of the Constitutional Court decisions;
- drafting regulations on personal data protection and data confidentiality; monitoring the implementation of regulations on data confidentiality, as well as other activities determined by law.
The Ministry of Justice carries out public administration activities relating to:
- the public administration system, and the organization and work of ministries and special organizations; the Ombudsman; administrative inspection; administrative proceedings and administrative dispute; selections for republic authorities; employment in public authorities; professional specialization of the personnel employed in public authorities;
- registers; use of the official language and script; seals, political and other forms of organizing, except labor unions; direct statement of the public; electoral registers, and other activities determined by law.
The Ministry of Justice also carries out activities relating to keeping registers of political parties, registers of churches and religious communities, registers of national minority councils; elections of national minority councils; drafting regulations on churches and religious communities, and on human and minority rights, as well as other activities determined by law.
Transitional and final provisions of the Law on Ministries – on the day this Law entered into force, in the sense of Article 35 of the said law, the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, Public Administration and Local Self-Government, and the Ministry of Religion and Diaspora ceased to exist.
In accordance with the Law on Ministries, the Ministry of Justice has taken over from:
- the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, Public Administration and Local Self-Government - personnel and appointed officials, as well as rights, obligations, cases, equipment, working resources, and archive for exercising jurisdiction in the area of public administration, and carrying out public administration activities relating to keeping registers of political parties;
- the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, Public Administration and Local Self-Government - Human and Minority Rights Administration - personnel and appointed officials, as well as rights, obligations, cases, equipment, working resources, and archive for exercising jurisdiction determined by this law in the area of human and minority rights.
- the Ministry of Religion and Diaspora - personnel and appointed officials, as well as rights, obligations, cases, equipment, working resources, and archive for exercising jurisdiction determined by this law in the area of churches and religious communities.
