On 24 and 25 October 2014, international conference “Fundamental Rights – Justification and Interpretation” was held at University of Belgrade Faculty of Law. At the conference, both theoretical and practical issues and problems related to the human rights were adressed. It brought together numerous professors, judges and eminent lawyers. The welcoming speech was given by prof. Dr Sima Avramović.

The first session entitled “Constitutional Rights” included presentation by Robert Aleksi (“Constitutional Rights and Constitutional Review”) and Luka Burzan (“Solving Conflicts between Constitutional Rights”).

The second session dealt with issues related to freedom of religion. Speakers in this section were Pierluigi Chiassoni (“Freedom of Conscience and Freedom of Religion in a Constitutional State: Two Varieties of Conscientious Objectiu”) and Kenneth Hima (“Compensating Legally Imposed for a Disability: is There a Special Fundamental Right to Religious Freedom?”).

In the session “Legal status and Fundamental Rights”, David Duarte (“Norm Structure and Fundamental Rights: From addressees to Legal Positions”) and Biljana Đorđević (“Citizenship as an Expression of the Special Ties That Bind: A Right or a Matter of Privilege and Qualification?”) presented their papers.

Speakers of the last session – “Correlations of Fundamental Rights” were Violeta Beširović (“Mission (Im)possible? Defending the Right to Die”), Tanasije Marinković (“What Freedom for the Enemies of Freedom? – Trends in Banning of Political Organizations in Europe”) and Djordje Pavićević (“Human Rights and Poverty”).

On Saturday 25 October, two sessions were held – “Justifying fundamental rights” and “Interpreting fundamental rights”. The following speakers presented their papers: Stephan Kirste (‘Individualism and Collectivism in the Foundation of Group Rights’), Jasminka Hasanbegović (‘Why Do We Need Fundamental Rights, Not Only in Practice, But Also in Theory?’), Bojan Spaić, (‘Human Dignity and the Limits of Legal Interpretation’), Miodrag Jovanović (‘Human Rights – Between Universality and Culturally Sensitive Interpretation’).

The conference was organized by the Serbian Association for Legal and Social Philosophy in cooperation with University of Belgrade Faculty of Law.