THE YUGOSLAV COMMUNITY OF NATIONS THE YUGOSLAV COMMUNITY OF NATIONS by FRITS W. HONDIUS 1968 MOUTON THE HAGUE • PARIS © Copyright 1968 in The Netherlands. Mouton & Co. N.V., Publishers, The Hague. No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form, by print, photo- print, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publishers. Printed in The Netherlands by Mouton & Co., Printers, The Hague Ko na brdo, ak'i malo, stoji, Vise vidi neg onaj pod brdom. Petar Petrovic Njegus, Gorski Vijenac, 1847 PREFACE The development of the Yugoslav community of nations, in terms of constitutional law, shows an interesting combination of parallels and contrasts. They are well worth recording. The historiographer of this complex area faces a peculiar problem: how to record a development which frequently lacks unity of time, place and action. A book on Yugoslav constitutional development in some respects resembles an experimental theatre in which different manifestations are performed on different stages in one and the same hall. Students of Yugoslav constitutional law have three main sources of literature at their disposal: publications by Yugoslavs in their own languages and in foreign languages, and publications by non-Yugoslavs. Yugoslav legal publications are numerous. Apart from the official editions of laws, commentaries on laws and information material, there are many professional journals and textbooks. On account of the lan- guage in which they have been written, most of this material remains beyond the horizon of the international public. For the benefit of foreign readers, the Yugoslavs are making laudable efforts to issue foreign language publications. Major laws have been translated into English and French, and several legal journals and university yearbooks carry summaries of their contents in one of these languages. Some periodicals are even specially produced in English or French, such as The New Yugoslav Law, Questions of Socialism, Yugoslav Survey or Review of International Affairs. Even so, this category of literature does not entirely satisfy the needs of foreign readers, tending as it does to be profuse on theory, but brief, if not silent, on practice. The 1,046 page standard work on present constitutional law, Novi ustavni sistem by Jovan Djordjevic, provides hardly any data on constitutional practice. The chief quality of the classical Yugoslav law textbook — its logic and its theoretical consist- ency — is, at the same time, its chief defect. Reality is somewhat more complicated and somewhat less logical. 8 PREFACE There are several excellent foreign books and articles on Yugoslav constitutional law. The United States, in particular, which has many citizens of Yugoslav origin, has been very productive. Also in Germany, France and Britain studies on Yugoslavia have seen the light. Expatriate Yugoslavs in Britain have edited a special journal on current Yugoslav affairs, Review. The disadvantage of many of these works is their strong bias. Admittedly, it is difficult to write about Yugoslavia without choos- ing sides. The author embarked upon the present study in the hope of doing justice to both the Yugoslavs' own views of their multinational, federal system, and to the views of foreign commentators. This study is presen- ted in the form of a chronicle with marginal annotations. Admittedly, this method limits the possibilities for functional analysis, but it shows how different problems are interwoven. The author felt that properly selected and presented material can be an aid towards a better under- standing of the complex Yugoslav community. The author remembers with gratitude the encouragement he was given many years ago by Professor Aleksandar Magarasevic to undertake this study. Through the friendship and co-operation of his colleagues in all Republics of Yugoslavia the author could make the acquaintance of the rich world of Yugoslav law and legal literature. With assistance from Yugoslav and Dutch government agencies and some other organizations, he was able to visit Yugoslavia eight times during this period and to gather on-the-spot impressions. His two base camps for these academic expeditions were the Law Faculties of Belgrade and Zagreb, both of which treated the author as one of the family. His home base was the Documentatiebureau voor Oost- Europees Recht of Leyden University, directed by Professor Zs. Szirmai. It is not possible in this short space to mention all persons who assisted his efforts, but the author feels excused in making a few exceptions: to mention the response and counsel he has received throughout the years from Professor Eugen Pusic of Zagreb, and the critical comments that were offered by Professor Rudolf Bicanic of Zagreb, Professor Leon Gerskovic and Dr. Miodrag JoviSic of Belgrade, and Dr. Ernest Petric of Ljubljana, who read the whole or parts of the manuscript. The advice of Mr. Bruce Burton and Mrs. Jean Sanders saved the author from some faux pas in the English language. The Hague, January 1968 CONTENTS Preface 7 Chapter One The Multinational Condition 11 Chapter Two Development of the Historical Units 30 Chapter Three Rise and Fall of the First Yugoslav State 77 Chapter Four The Rebirth of Yugoslavia as a Federal State 113 Chapter Five From Constitution to Constitutional Law 168 Chapter Six From Constitutional Law to Constitution 210 Chapter Seven The 1963 Constitution 244 Chapter Eight The Nations Come of Age 314 Bibliography 346 Samenvatting De Joegoslavische gemeenschap van naties 354 Kratak sadrzaj Jugoslovenska zajednica naroda 357 General Index 360 Index of Persons 372