Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the context of "Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church"

This is a list of heads of the Serbian Orthodox Church, since the establishment of the church as an autocephalous archbishopric in 1219 to today's patriarchate. The list includes all the archbishops and patriarchs that led the Serbian Orthodox Church under the Serbian Archbishopric and Serbian Patriarchate of Peć. Today, the church is unified under a patriarch who is officially styled as Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovci, and Serbian Patriarch (Serbian: Архиепископ пећки, митрополит београдско-карловачки, и патријарх српски, romanized: Arhiepiskop pećki, mitropolit beogradsko-karlovački, i patrijarh srpski).

According to the current constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the patriarch is elected by a special convocation of the Bishops' Council, and serves as the chairman of the Holy Synod.

The Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, also known in English as the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church (Serbian: Свети архијерејски сабор Српске православне цркве, romanized: Sveti arhijerejski sabor Srpske pravoslavne crkve) serves by Church constitution as the supreme body of the Serbian Orthodox Church. It is the supreme organ of the legislative authority of the Church in matters of faith, worship, church order or church discipline, and the internal organization of the Church. It is also the highest judicial authority in its jurisdiction. It is convened annually in May. In case of emergency, it can also be summoned at any other time.

The Bishops' Council consists of all diocesan bishops and the Patriarch, Porfirije, who serves as the chairman. Its decisions are recognized as valid if, at their adoption, more than half of the diocesan bishops are present at the meeting of the council. Only they can take part in voting on a particular issue. With an equal number of votes, the voice of the Patriarch is decisive.