Đurđe Ninković (born 1942) is a Serbian lawyer, legal commentator and political activist who was a founding member of the Democratic Party (DS) in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

who joined

the Founding Committee of the Democratic Party The Democratic Party (; , abbr. DS) is a social democratic list of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. Srđan Milivojević has led the party as its Democratic Party (Serbia)#List of presidents, president since 2024. The p ...

in December 1989. From late December 1989, the meetings of the Founding Committee and later the Executive Committee of the DS, took place in his law offices in Belgrade where the ''Pismo o namerama'' (''Letter of intent''), the first party political program of the DS, was drafted and published in January 1990. At this time the central office of the DS was also located in Mr. Ninković's law offices in hotel Astoria for a few months.

Biography

Djurdje was brought up in a pro-democracy family where both his parents were opponents of communist totalitarianism. His father, Milorad Dj. Ninković, was a

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

officer in the

Royal Yugoslav Army The Yugoslav Army ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslovenska vojska, JV, Југословенска војска, ЈВ), commonly the Royal Yugoslav Army, was the principal Army, ground force of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It existed from the establishment of ...

and a prominent lawyer educated in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

, who was imprisoned and persecuted after the

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

government was established in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

in 1944 and his mother, Višnja (née Popović), also studied law at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

. They both believed in individual

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and the

rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...

which were trampled by the communist revolution. This influenced Djurdje in his belief that for Serbia to move forward it was first necessary to fully dismantle the legacy of communism. He graduated from Belgrade Law School in 1964 and completed his post-graduate studies at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

in 1968. He is a Salzburg Global Fellow, being an alumnus of the

Salzburg Global Seminar Salzburg Global (formerly known as Salzburg Global Seminar) is a non-profit organization that convenes programs on its five pillar topics of Peace and Justice, Education, Culture, Health, and Finance and Governance. Programs regularly occur at Sc ...

course in American Law and Legal Institutions of 1977 and is also an alumnus of the Kokkalis Program at

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

, Executive Education leadership course (2000), having been awarded a Kokkalis Foundation scholarship. He is the author of more than seventy legal articles on various topics, particularly focused on

ownership Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as '' title'', which may be separated and held by dif ...

of private property,

restitution Restitution and unjust enrichment is the field of law relating to gains-based recovery. In contrast with damages (the law of compensation), restitution is a claim or remedy requiring a defendant to give up benefits wrongfully obtained. Liability ...

, rehabilitation of political prisoners, the

and independence of the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

in various legal journals.

Political life

Djurdje was a member of

from late December 1989. He was elected Secretary of the Executive Committee, at the founding party conference in February 1990 and was an elected member of the General and Executive Committees of the Democratic Party until July 1992. In 1990 he was also a founding Director of the Democratic Party opposition newspaper ''Demokratija''. He left the DS with the pro- DEPOS coalition wing of the party and was a founding member of the

Democratic Party of Serbia The New Democratic Party of Serbia (, , abbr. NDSS), known as the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) until 2022, is a national-conservative political party in Serbia. Miloš Jovanović serves as the current president of NDSS. DSS was formed as ...

(DSS) in July 1992 with

Vojislav Koštunica Vojislav Koštunica ( sr-cyrl, Војислав Коштуница, ; born 24 March 1944) is a Serbian former politician who served as the last President of Serbia and Montenegro, president of FR Yugoslavia from 2000 to 2003 and as the Prime Min ...

Vladeta Janković Vladeta Janković ( sr-Cyrl, Владета Јанковић; born 1 September 1940) is a Serbian university professor, diplomat and politician. A former member of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), Janković previously served as the Federal R ...

, Mirko Petrović, Draško Petrović,

Vladan Batić Vladan Batić (; 27 July 1949 – 29 December 2010) was a Serbian lawyer and politician. He served as the Minister of Justice in the Government of Serbia from 2001 until 2004. Education and career He graduated from the University of Belgrade's L ...

and others. Initially, for the first few months, the administrative central office of the DSS was also located in his law offices in hotel Astoria. He was elected to the DSS' General Committee at the founding party conference. Both within the DS and DSS he was concerned with establishing a democratic system in Serbia premised on the rule of law with a strong

independent judiciary Judicial independence is the concept that the judiciary should be independent from the other branches of government. That is, courts should not be subject to improper influence from the other branches of government or from private or partisan inte ...

and a government of just laws, underpinned by four laws: The law of

of property forcibly nationalised by the communist regime without compensation; the Law of

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

; the Law of rehabilitation of political prisoners; and the Law of

lustration Lustration in Central and Eastern Europe is the official public procedure of scrutinizing a public official or a candidate for public office in terms of their history as a witting confidential collaborator (informant) of relevant former commun ...

, effectively barring those individuals who had been instrumental in the abuse of human rights under communism from holding public office for a period of years. In 2001, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Justice in the Cabinet of Serbia led by

Zoran Đinđić Zoran Đinđić ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Ђинђић, ; 1 August 1952 – 12 March 2003) was a Serbian politician and philosopher who served as the Prime Minister of Serbia, prime minister of Serbia from 2001 until Assassination of Zoran Đinđić, ...

, the Prime Minister. He chaired various government expert working groups drafting democratic laws to underpin the post-communist

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.non-governmental organisations A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

(NGOs), political parties and the judiciary. After leaving office he remained involved as a legal expert within government working groups preparing draft legislation as the deputy chairman of the working group preparing the draft law on restitution of confiscated church property (adopted by Parliament in 2006). He was also the chairman of the working group preparing the draft law on restitution of

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with ...

and confiscated property in 2001 (which was based on the premise of ''restitutio in rem'' (return of the original property ), and was a member of working groups preparing the law on Rehabilitation of political prisoners (adopted by Parliament in 2005) and the law on registration and evidencing of nationalised/confiscated property (adopted by Parliament in 2005). He also campaigned for the adoption of legislation on

of communist apparatchiks especially within the government, judiciary and the police (such laws having been adopted in

post-communist Post-communism is the period of political and economic transformation or transition in post-Soviet states and other formerly communist states located in Central-Eastern Europe and parts of Latin America, Africa, and Asia, in which new governments ...

countries including

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

). Since 2006 he is no longer involved in party politics having experienced a continuing lack of political will for genuine deep rooted political reforms. In 2009 he actively campaigned for the immediate adoption of a just Law of

and confiscated property, which is a condition of Serbia's potential membership of the EU. His campaign included a

direct action Direct action is a term for economic and political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action is to either obstruct a certain practice (such as a governm ...

occupation of hotel Astoria which had been built by his grandfather, Djurdje S. Ninković, and owned by his family until forceful nationalisation by the Communist regime in 1948.

Views

He has been very critical of The Law of Restitution of Property and Compensation, which was enacted by the Government of Serbia in October 2011 and implemented from March 2012. The law imposes severe restrictions on the type of property which can be returned. This will result in a very small proportion of nationalised property being returned to their rightful owners. It also imposes an absolute cap of EUR 2 billion for the total amount of compensation which can be paid to those owners whose property will not be returned. This represents a small fraction of the total value of property which has been nationalised estimated at between EUR 220 billion and EUR 50 billion.

Awards and honours

*2017: Appointed Member of the Privy Council by HRH Crown Prince Alexander Karađorđević of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

Coat of arms of the Karadjordjevic dynasty

*2017: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the White Eagle *1988: Knight of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by Frederick I of Sweden, King Frederick I on 23 F ...

by HM King

Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. Having reigned since 1973, he is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history. Carl Gustaf was born during the reign of his paternal great-grandfather, K ...

of Sweden, for legal services as long standing Counsel to the Swedish Embassy in Belgrade.

References

External links

Article by Dj. Ninkovic about the assassination of the late Zoran Djindjić in English Transcript of interview on B92 TV about the law on rehabilitation of political prisoners in Serbian Article on Restitution of nationalised and confiscated property on behalf of Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) in Serbian Short biography in English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ninkovic, Djurdje 1942 births Living people Alumni of the University of London Democratic Party (Serbia) politicians Democratic Party of Serbia politicians 20th-century Serbian lawyers Serbian activists University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni Knights of the Order of the Polar Star Government ministers of Serbia 21st-century Serbian lawyers Yugoslav lawyers