Serbia

The HJC should adopt rules/by-laws on the independence of the judicial budget, build capacities for implementing the budget for the judiciary and create mechanisms for its effective application.

The HCJ adopted the Rulebook on the work of its Budget Commission. In order to strengthen its capacities and establish mechanisms for the effective exercise of its competences, the HCJ has implemented an application-based software for monitoring court performance. Among other features, the software enables the electronic submission, processing, and consolidation of financial plans prepared independently by the courts as indirect budget beneficiaries, as well as analysis of budget execution and court backlogs. In addition, the HCJ has taken all measures and activities prescribed by law in a timely manner to ensure an adequate volume and structure of budgetary resources for the work of the courts. https://vst.jt.rs/pravilnik-o-radu-budzetske-komisije-visokog-saveta-tuzilastva/

Last update 28 March 2025

The HJC should, following public consultation, pass a by-law on the criteria for election to the position of judge and president of the court.

At its session on 17 April 2024, the HCJ adopted the Rulebook on the procedure for electing judges and court presidents. https://vss.sud.rs/api/documents/preview/Правилник о поступку за избор судије и председника суда - Објављен у службеном гласнику РС 34-2024 од 19.04.2024..pdf

Last update 28 March 2025

The judicial academy should improve the quality of continuous training for judges in corruption, especially regarding the prosecution of corrupt criminal acts based on publicly expressed suspicions.

From the beginning of 2024, the Judicial Academy, in cooperation with various international and domestic organisations, conducted 18 training sessions for more than 350 participants – including judges, prosecutors, and judicial and prosecutorial assistants. The trainings covered topics such as ’Criminal Procedure, Combating corruption, Financial investigation’ and ’Criminal procedure, Public procurement and corruption, Prevention of money laundering, Confiscation of criminal assets’. Among these subjects addressed were fraud and irregularities in handling EU financial investigations, and the assessment of evidence in criminal proceedings related to abuses in public procurement, among others. https://www.pars.rs/sr/стална-обука

Last update 28 March 2025

The HPC and all prosecution offices should increase the number of prosecutors who exclusively investigate corruption cases in order to conduct proactive investigations based on publicly available data on corrupt behaviour.

Since 1 January 2024, 54 public prosecutors have been assigned to the special departments for combating corruption. However, this does not necessarily mean that the newly assigned prosecutors will proactively initiate investigations based on publicly available data on corrupt behaviour, considering past practices.

Last update 28 March 2025

Courts should ensure a greater degree of transparency of work through holding regular press conferences and publishing data on the status of proceedings for which there is a public interest, as well as through timely and complete processing of requests for access to information in accordance with the legal framework.

The official websites of the courts (such as the Higher Court in Belgrade, the Higher Court in Niš, and the Higher Court in Novi Sad) do not contain information about regular or extraordinary press conferences. Similarly, no publicly available media reports indicate that any press conferences were held during the reporting period. At the same time, the official websites of these courts, as well as the basic courts in the same cities, do publish depersonalised information on criminal proceedings under dedicated banners titled‘ News’ or ‘Announcements’ or on their homepages.

Last update 28 March 2025

The judicial academy should improve the quality of continuous training for judges in corruption, especially regarding the prosecution of corrupt criminal acts based on publicly expressed suspicions.

From the beginning of 2024, the Judicial Academy, in cooperation with various international and domestic organisations, conducted 18 for more than 350 participants – including judges, prosecutors, and judicial and prosecutorial assistants. The trainings covered topics such as ’Criminal Procedure, Combating corruption, Financial investigation’ and ’Criminal procedure, Public procurement and corruption, Prevention of money laundering, Confiscation of criminal assets’. Among these subjects addressed were fraud and irregularities in handling EU financial investigations, and the assessment of evidence in criminal proceedings related to abuses in public procurement, among others.

Last update 28 March 2025

The government and the HPC should provide the public prosecution with the necessary conditions for work: human resources, office space and equipment. Additionally, they should provide conditions for more financial forensic experts, including possible changes of the legal framework which would enable their employment under market conditions and not for the salaries of civil servants.

During November and December 2024, the High Council of Prosecutions made decisions on the selection of the chief public prosecutor and public prosecutor in the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Zrenjanin, several public prosecutors in the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office, on the selection of public prosecutors in the Public Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime and the Public Prosecutor's Office for War Crimes, as well as the selection of public prosecutors in appellate public prosecutor's offices, i.e. the decision on the selection of public prosecutors in the public prosecutor's office in about 30 basic public prosecutor's offices. In March 2025, 24 public prosecutors were sworn in. Also, the schedules of conducting interviews with registered candidates for the selection of public prosecutors of the Public Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime and higher public prosecutor's offices have been published. https://vst.jt.rs/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Dnevni-red-1-1.pdf; https://vst.jt.rs/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Dnevni-red-5.pdf; https://vst.jt.rs/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Obavestenje-o-datumu-polaganja-zakletve.pdf; https://vst.jt.rs/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Raspored-za-21.3.2025.pdf; https://vst.jt.rs/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Raspored-za-12.3.2025-1.pdf

Last update 28 March 2025

The State Audit Institution should conduct comprehensive audits and evaluations of budget use within the Ministry of Interior. In parallel, prosecutors must actively monitor and closely follow civil society initiatives and investigative journalism reports that shed light on potential instances of budget misuse within the police service. This proactive approach will ensure that any irregularities are promptly identified and addressed.

In 2024, the State Audit Institution conducted an audit of the financial reports of the Ministry of Interior, as well as follow-up audit reports on the correction of identified irregularities. On the other hand, prosecution offices still do not act proactively and fail to respond to initiatives from civil society or to published investigative journalism reports pointing to potential abuses. The conduct of the prosecution does not reflect a proactive approach. https://www.dri.rs/izvestaji?search=унутрашњих послова&date=DESC&year=&topics=&subjects=&types=&sectors=&tags=&crosstypes=&search_subject=

Last update 28 March 2025

The police should provide clear and comprehensive guidance to individuals who want to report such incidents to encourage reporting of corruption and ensure transparency in the process. This includes clear instructions on websites and premises, a clear explanation of what individuals can expect during the reporting and investigation process, and the police should commit to providing regular updates and notices to individuals who have reported corruption.

The Internal Control Sector provides instructions on its website for citizens on how to report corruption, but such information is not available on the Ministry of Interior's homepage. Moreover, apart from stating what should be included in a report, the instructions do not mention whether and when citizens can expect feedback on their reports or how the case will proceed. There is also no information on the number of characteristics of previously reported corruption cases. Additionally, anonymous reporting is not enabled. http://prezentacije.mup.gov.rs/sukp/zalbe.html

Last update 28 March 2025

The government should propose, and parliament should adopt a new law which would establish the state election commission as a professional and independent state body. The starting point for discussion on the best model for the election of its officials and their independence from political parties should be the draft law on the state electoral committee from 2009. This independent body should dispose of its own budget and should employ its own administration.

A Decision amending the Decision on the organisation and work of the National Assembly Service was adopted at the first extraordinary session of parliament on 23 July 2024, which, among other things, aims to strengthen the service available to the Republic Electoral Commission (REC). However, there is no information indicating that RIK’s service has since been strengthened to a sufficient capacity. Furthermore, no law has been adopted to establish REC as a professional and independent state body. https://otvoreniparlament.rs/uploads/akta/Predlog odluke o izmenama Odluke o organizaciji i radu Slu%C5%BEbe Narodne skup%C5%A1tine.pdf

Last update 28 March 2025

The REC should publish annual procurement plans in accordance with the law (it has not been published since 2019), plus annual reports on expenditures and reports on election expenditures (not published since 2020) on its website at the latest one month after elections.

REC still does not publish annual public procurement plans. However, it published the reports on expenditures up until September 2024, both for regular work and for elections. https://www.rik.parlament.gov.rs/tekst/sr/583/javne-nabavke.php

Last update 28 March 2025

The REC should initiate changes to improve the participation of voters with disabilities, including providing easier access to polling stations, enabling easier movement within polling stations adapted to persons with disabilities, and enabling proper informing and communication with blind and deaf persons by introducing audio, visual and tactile instructions.

The ODIHR report (p. 11) notes that, prior to the elections, the REC amended ten existing instructions and adopted two new ones. „While these amendments partially addressed previous ODIHR recommendations, including those aimed at improving access for persons with disabilities, reducing overcrowding at polling stations, ensuring the secrecy of the vote, and the timely publication of results by polling station, the impact of these regulatory changes remained limited on election day (see Election day)“, the report states. https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/c/2/565117_0.pdf

Last update 28 March 2025

The REC should proactively publish turnout data, data on the composition of polling boards and aggregated voting results received from the LECs on its website immediately upon their reception from the LECs in an open data format.

The REC publishes the composition of polling boards in a searchable PDF format. Once the REC adopts the final election results, aggregated voting results are published and accompanied by an Excel file containing data for each polling station in Serbia. However, the aggregated results submitted by local electoral commissions are not published in a machine-readable format. Turnout data is announced periodically throughout election day during REC press conferences. https://www.rik.parlament.gov.rs/

Last update 28 March 2025

The ombudsperson should always, when there is increased public interest, initiate proceedings by official duty, especially according to legislative competence.

In 2024 and 2025, the Ombudsperson continued of ex officio investigations to initiate a number of by official duty in cases where there was public interest. Most of these concerned the protection of environmental rights and the rights to life and physical integrity threatened by domestic violence – issues that sparked significant public interest and concern. https://www.ombudsman.rs/index.php/2012-02-07-14-03-33

Last update 28 March 2025

The ombudsperson should make information about his work available to the public in a timely and complete manner, especially information about control procedures and recommendations made, especially in cases where there is an expressed public interest.

On the official website of the Ombudsperson, the the 'Control procedures' section provides publicly available information on control procedures. However, the limitation lies in the fact that only those procedures that resulted in recommendations or opinions are made publicly available. Information about other control procedures becomes accessible to the public only upon publication of the annual report for a given calendar year. Even then, the data is minimal, presented in statistical tables without further explanation. Additionally, the information is published with a delay – for example, some reports on control procedures and recommendations from July were published in that section at the end of August 2024. https://www.ombudsman.rs/index.php/2012-02-07-14-03-33

Last update 28 March 2025

The state prosecution office should act upon the SAI’s submissions and report about the results of its actions during the year.

The state prosecution office acts upon the SAI’s submissions but does not publish its decisions on its website. Likewise, the state prosecution office informs the SAI of its decisions, but the SAI does not publish them either on its website or in its annual reports. https://www.dri.rs/storage/newaudits/Izvestaj o radu DRI za 2023 god.pdf

Last update 28 March 2025

The SAI should increase the number of auditors to fill the systematised positions and especially strengthen its performance audit sector to expand the scope and volume of the work.

The systematisation provides for 426 employees, and as of 31 December 2023, 320 were employed, of whom 282 were in auditing departments.

Last update 28 March 2025

The SAI should enforce cooperation with CSOs and citizens to promote channels for reporting irregularities.

The SAI has not established adequate cooperation with civil society, meaning it does not hold meetings with interested CSOs. On the other hand, it regularly holds press conferences to inform the public about its results and publishes summaries of its audits, suitable for media use, on the "media" section of its website. https://www.dri.rs/sazeci-izvestaja

Last update 28 March 2025

The SAI needs to publish on its website the criteria by which it makes its annual auditing plan.

The SAI still has not established the practice of publishing the criteria on its website based on which it plans its annual audits. It only publishes its strategic four-year plans, which also do not include these criteria. This recommendation is particularly important to ensure transparency in the selection of entities to be audited. https://www.dri.rs/strateski-plan

Last update 28 March 2025

The finance committee should follow up quarterly on the fulfilment of the SAI’s recommendations in audited institutions, for example, through public hearings on the most strategic issues raised by the SAI in its report.

The parliamentary finance committee reviews the reports of the SAI, but so far, no public hearing has been held in response to the SAI’s findings. http://www.parlament.gov.rs/narodna-skupstina-/sastav/radna-tela/odbori.146.895.html

Last update 28 March 2025

The FPA laws should be amended to clearly define the agency's role in overseeing party and campaign financing. This would include setting control deadlines based on reports submitted during the election campaign period, defining a minimal set of actions that should be performed when checking the completeness and truthfulness of campaign finance reports, and so on.

The Laws on FPA adopted in 2022 established deadlines for the Agency’s actions, including the deadline for completing the review of submitted campaign finance reports. This deadline is set at 120 days from the expiration of the reporting deadline. Additionally, in accordance with the Law on Financing Political Activities, the ACA adopts a Control Plan that sets out the criteria for reviewing individual financial reports of political entities.

Last update 28 March 2025

The government and the agency should collaborate in formulating and presenting a comprehensive National Anti-Corruption Strategy by March 2024, which will be subsequently endorsed by parliament.

The agency was involved in drafting the National Anti-Corruption Strategy but did not participate in its promotion. The most recent post in the "Activities" section of its website dates back to March 2023. https://acas.rs/cyr/page_with_sidebar/mediji

Last update 28 March 2025

The government needs to improve and systematize the legal framework that regulates its cooperation with CSOs and ensures the implementation of the existing consultative mechanisms, including the Law on the Planning System and by-laws so that public consultations are held on all important acts, that all relevant information is presented to the participants, that all proposals are discussed and the responses are explained, and ensure responsibility for all the above; establishing clear rules in the Law on the Budgetary System or one of the aforementioned acts that would refer to consultations with budgetary priorities; ensure compliance with procedures in preparation of legislation as regulated in the Law on State Administration and Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly.

Existing consultative mechanisms with CSOs are implemented to a certain extent, which is evident in the process of adopting the Anti-Corruption Strategy, the Media Strategy, and others. However, they are not implemented sufficiently and with limited results, which stem from the non-compliance with or misuse of the prescribed procedures for carrying out these processes, such as failing to publish reports from public debates, scheduling public debates during the summer period, short deadlines for submission of proposals, and other similar issues. Additionally, the Government fails to enact public consultations in most of the legally binding situations and organizes public debate on the budget just a day prior to its consideration in the Parliament, inviting only representatives of legislative and executive authority.

Last update 28 March 2025

Parliament should be more engaged in reviewing the compliance of draft regulations with the constitution and strategic documents, discussing potential corruption risks with emphasis on interstate agreements and verifying the funds envisaged for implementing specific regulations. Concerning this, parliament should stop adopting authentic interpretations that cause instability in the legal system by amending the Law on the National Assembly and the rules of procedure.

No action has been taken to implement this recommendation. The National Assembly continued to adopt laws and other acts without adequate discussion of the draft texts, both in plenary sessions and in committee meetings. Laws are being adopted in the exact form in which they were proposed by the Government. The practice of adopting authentic interpretations of laws has also continued. On July 31, 2024, the Parliament adopted an authentic opinion on the provision of Article 2 of the Law on the Confirmation of the Framework Protocol on Financial and Technical Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the Kingdom of Spain in the Field of Infrastructure Projects. http://www.parlament.gov.rs/upload/archive/files/cir/pdf/ostala_akta/14_saziv/RS14-24.pdf

Last update 28 March 2025

Parliament should endorse civil society inclusion by: organising more public hearings on the topics of the utmost public interest, discussing corruption risks and implementing recommendations of international organisations (such as ODIHR, GRECO); inviting civil society representatives and experts to participate in relevant committee sittings and establish more inquiry committees; reviewing and including civic initiatives in the agenda.

No action has been taken to implement this recommendation. Civil society representatives were not invited to the sessions of parliamentary working bodies, nor were civic initiatives considered. The Committee for Finances and Budgetary Issues in the Serbian Parliament scheduled a public hearing on the Budget Proposal for 2025 in the Serbian Parliament, to which representatives of the civil sector were not invited, for Sunday, November 24, 2024, at five o'clock in the afternoon, just one day before the start of the parliamentary session whose agenda was the budget. Through the efforts of TS and NKEU, the Board enabled the presence of several CSO representatives, and two of them were given the floor at the end of the session, around 7 o'clock in the afternoon. The Committee on Constitutional Affairs and Legislation organized, on January 27, 2025, a public hearing on draft laws on the revision of the voter register, which was organized contrary to the rules and at which proposals were presented that were not considered during the previous consultations. CSO representatives left this session. During February and March, the Committee continued to organize public hearings on the same topic in various cities in Serbia, but due to violations of the rules for holding public hearings, civil society representatives were not present at these events. https://www.nin.rs/politika/vesti/67197/predstavnici-opozicionih-stranaka-napustili-javno-slusanje-odbora-skupstine-srbije

Last update 28 March 2025

Parliament should improve the transparency of its work by timely publishing amendments, the government’s opinions on amendments, documents considered and adopted in committee sessions, budget execution documents (currently available only to MPs) and information on lobbying. Parliament should also organise public calls and interviews with candidates for all posts to be elected by parliament.

No action has been taken to implement this recommendation. Amendments to laws are not published on the parliament’s website. There is also no dedicated page on lobbying available on the website. http://www.parlament.gov.rs/акти.44.html

Last update 28 March 2025

Parliament should improve the integrity of its work by: improving the regulation of conflict of interest by amending the Law on the National Assembly and Code of Conduct to ensure tailor-made rules and clear jurisdiction between the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and the self-regulation of the National Assembly; amending the code of conduct to align with practice and presenting the code to citizens; publishing a report on the implementation of the code of conduct and timely reviewing all reported violations of the code.

No action has been taken to implement this recommendation.

Last update 28 March 2025

The government needs to develop a new anti-corruption strategy for 2023-2028 in consultation with all relevant stakeholders and implement the current strategic anti-corruption documents without further delay.

The Government adopted the National Anti-Corruption Strategy for the period 2023-2028 in July 2024. The accompanying Action plan for implementing the Strategy for 2024 is in the process of adoption, and representatives of civil society have been included in the working group for its adoption.

Last update 28 March 2025

The government should enable the public to influence the budget process and provide explanations on the influence of planned budget expenditures on the fulfilment of legal obligations of state bodies and the implementation of defined priorities.

The process of the adoption of the national budget still goes on without the participation of the public or even the possibility of a citizen influencing it.

Last update 28 March 2025

The government needs to implement further international recommendations, including those from the GRECO evaluation and the European Commission’s reports. Most pressing in this regard are the following actions: regulating conflicts of interest among advisers to the president, prime minister and ministers and strengthening the system for controlling the reports of executive power officials; regulation on informal lobbying; enabling citizens to file a complaint with the commissioner when the government or president refuse or ignore the request for access to information; obligation to hold public hearings on all laws; limiting the immunity of members of the government for corrupt crimes, expanding the jurisdiction of the Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime and strengthening the government’s council for the fight against corruption; further improve its track record on investigations, prosecutions and final court decisions in high-level corruption cases, in particular the seizure and confiscation of criminal assets.

Although some effort has been made to implement certain GRECO recommendations, no progress has been made.

Last update 28 March 2025

Parliament should improve the independence and responsibility of the HCJ through the selection process of so-called prominent lawyers in such a way that they should be elected by the MPs directly, and prevent, due to MPs’ failure to exercise their powers, the election of these lawyers from being done by the commission.

The National Assembly did not adopt a law to regulate the procedure for electing prominent lawyers to the HCJ. Given that the Commission selected the prominent lawyers – members of the HCJ – in early May 2023, MPs were neither given the opportunity nor the possibility to directly elect these members during the reporting period. https://europeanwesternbalkans.rs/komisija-izabrala-istaknute-pravnike-za-visoke-savete-sudstva-i-tuzilastva/

Last update 28 March 2025

The HJC should conduct a new systematisation analysis to determine the number of judges in accordance with the judicial system's needs so that all cases, including current delays, can be resolved within a reasonable timeframe.

The analysis has not been published. The HCJ continues to announce public competitions for the selection of judges and adopts decisions on their appointment and on the required number of judges – without basing these decisions on the findings or data from the mentioned analysis.

Last update 28 March 2025

The HJC and the courts should conduct an analysis of the proceedings in cases involving criminal acts related to corruption, which last an extremely long time or end with symbolic sanctions, and present to the public the reasons for such a situation.

The HCJ's official website does not contain any publicly available analysis, as referenced, or any information indicating that such an analysis is in preparation.

Last update 28 March 2025

The ministry and the government should ensure the right to compensation for victims of corruption, in accordance with the Council of Europe’s civil law convention, which Serbia ratified.

There is no publicly available information indicating that any activity foreseen by the Action Plan for the Implementation of the National Strategy for the realisation of the rights of victims and witnesses of criminal offences in the Republic of Serbia for the period 2020-2025 was undertaken during the reporting period (2023-2025), specifically regarding activities scheduled for the second quarter of 2024. At the same time, the analysed period does not include the timeframe for activities planned for the fourth quarter of 2024.

Last update 28 March 2025

Parliament should amend the legislation that regulates the work of the HCP to provide more independence and responsibility for the HCP by including that the selection process of so-called prominent lawyers happens in such a way that they are elected directly by MPs and not by the special commission after MPs fail to exercise their powers.

The parliament has not adopted a law regulating the procedure for the election of prominent lawyers to the HCP.

Last update 28 March 2025

The HPC should improve the system of accountability of prosecutors by providing a transparent system of decision-making on citizens’ complaints, decision-making on prosecutors’ reports due to illegal influence and evaluation of public prosecutors.

The annual activity report contains data on handling citizens’ complaints, decisions on prosecutors’ reports of unlawful influence, and evaluation of public prosecutors. As of 30 September 2024, the most recently published activity report is for 2022 and is still titled ’Activity Report of the State Prosecutorial Council’. Similarly, the most recent publicly available activity report of the State Prosecutorial Council's disciplinary prosecutor is the ’Activity Report for 2017’.

Last update 28 March 2025

All prosecution offices should provide a greater degree of proactive transparency, without requiring requests for free access to information; in particular, increase the amount of information on their websites for which there is public interest or about cases for which suspicions of corruption were publicly expressed in the media available and publish clear instructions (on their websites and premises) for persons who want to report corruption: what they should do, what to expect during the procedure, when they can expect information about the course of the procedure, and so on.

All public prosecution offices, from the largest – such as the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade – to the smallest, such as the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Negotin, use standardised websites that contain identical sections with different specific data on the work of each office. Among the analysed websites, there has been an increase in the number of press releases informing the public about activities undertaken by the prosecution to combat crime. However, in most cases, these press releases concern actions taken against suspects of so-called conventional criminal offences – such as crimes against life and limb, property offences etc. Only one press release, published by the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Niš, addressed a so-called corruption-related offence – abuse of official position in the context of public procurement. Likewise, the abovementioned standardized websites do not contain a dedicated section with information or guidance for individuals who want to report corruption – such as what steps to take, what to expect during the procedure, and when to expect updates on the case.

Last update 28 March 2025

The Government should abandon the practice of concluding interstate agreements or proposing special laws aimed at circumventing public procurement regulations.

The Government of Serbia has continued with the practice of adopting special laws which hinder the public procurement system. In late 2023, the National Assembly adopted the Law for EXPO 2027, which repeals the Law on Public Procurement, as well as certain provisions of other regulations (on expropriation, planning and construction). This law envisages the establishment of several state-owned companies, which will have the status of investors and which do not apply the provisions of the law governing public procurement. The works for the construction of the exhibition space for EXPO 2027, facilities for the accommodation of participants and visitors, the National Stadium and supporting infrastructure will be contracted without the application of the Law on Public Procurement, which creates a great risk that the costs will be higher than they would have been under conditions that would exist with the full competition.

Last update 28 March 2025

The Law on Whistleblower Protection should be amended in order to appropriately penalize all forms of retaliation towards whistleblowers and to place one body in charge of general and comprehensive oversight of the law’s implementation. Additionally, the Ministry of Justice should analyse the effectiveness of law enforcement and the transparency of other bodies in this area. The monitoring shouldn’t focus only on the protection granted to the whistleblowers, but also on the follow-up actions on information provided by them.

There has been no information that the Ministry of Justice is working on amending the Law on Whistleblower Protection or monitoring the effectiveness of law enforcement and transparency of other state bodies in this area.

Last update 28 March 2025

The Government should abandon the practice of appointing civil servants to positions, and the Administrative Court should annul the previous illegal decisions in this regard.

The Government still has a widespread practice of appointing civil servants in acting positions. https://www.srbija.gov.rs/dokument/780202/kadrovska-resenja-za-vreme-mandata-vlade-republike-srbije-izabrane-2-maja-2024-godine.php

Last update 28 March 2025

The police should take proactive measures to prevent information leaks and respond swiftly when their integrity is questioned by the media to safeguard the integrity of the police service and maintain public trust. This includes strengthening information security (safeguarding servers, rooms, and entrances and controlling access to ensure the protection of sensitive information from unauthorised access or damage) and conducting swift and thorough investigations when allegations arise in the media. And the police should always provide clear and factual information to address any doubts or concerns raised.

No information indicates that the police have taken any normative steps to implement this recommendation. In practice, tabloids continue to publish police data and information from ongoing investigations. http://mup.gov.rs/wps/portal/sr/aktuelno/saopstenja

Last update 28 March 2025

The internal control sector should assess in an annual report the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures, such as asset declarations and integrity tests, in enhancing police integrity.

The annual report does not include assessments of the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures, nor does it contain data on the assets of Ministry of Interior personnel or the results of integrity tests. http://prezentacije.mup.gov.rs/sukp/rezultati/Izvestaj_2023_SUK.pdf

Last update 28 March 2025

The government should provide a permanent and adequate space for the ombudsperson by executing the existing decision or making a new decision on the allocation of space for permanent use.

The Ombudsperson continues to operate from temporarily allocated premises at Deligradska 16 in Belgrade. Moreover, no decision has been published on the official website of the Government of the Republic of Serbia allocating new premises for permanent use. https://www.ombudsman.rs/index.php/kontakt

Last update 28 March 2025

The ombudsperson should undertake all necessary measures and activities to improve its human resources by filling vacant positions in the professional service.

The situation has worsened and there are now three fewer employees compared to the April-September period (70). As of December 31, 2024, there are a total of 67 civil servants and deputies employed in the Professional Service of the Protector of Citizens, which is three civil servants less compared to the previous breakdown, namely: two civil servants in position, five acting civil servants in position, 57 civil servants in executive positions and three deputies. Out of the mentioned number, five civil servants are employed for a certain period of time. There are 56 civil servants with higher education, 11 civil servants and officials with secondary education, 54 employees are women and 13 are men. https://www.ombudsman.rs/attachments/article/8177/Редован Годишњи извештај Заштитника грађана за 2024. годину љ.pdf

Last update 28 March 2025

Parliament should provide an effective and publicly available mechanism for monitoring the implementation of the ombudsperson’s recommendations and the recommendations of the parliamentary committee in connection with the ombudsperson’s annual report. That mechanism should ensure the prescription of sanctions for non-reporting on the implementation of recommendations and for unjustified non-implementation of recommendations.

Parliament has not provided an effective mechanism to monitor whether and how the Ombudsperson’s recommendations are being implemented. Moreover, as of that date, the parliament had not yet considered the Ombudsperson’s 2023 annual report, which is available on the Ombudsperson’s official website under the section ’Reports’ but not on the parliament's official website.

Last update 28 March 2025

The government should prepare and parliament should adopt amendments to the Law on the Ombudsperson to abolish the monopoly of political parties nominating candidates, give full transparency to the election process that enables all candidates to present their work programmes, ensure equal participation of CSOs in the election process, and select the best candidates based on clear, well-known and measurable criteria.

The parliament has not adopted a law regulating the election procedure of the Ombudsperson in accordance with the recommendation, nor is such draft law currently under parliamentary procedure. http://www.parlament.gov.rs/akti/zakoni-u-proceduri/zakoni-u-proceduri.10.1037.html

Last update 28 March 2025

The government should amend its rules of procedure and other relevant acts to oblige legislators to seek the agency’s opinion on norms that could impact corruption or anti-corruption efforts, and to provide a comprehensive analysis of potential risks in the explanatory note. This should increase the number of acts on which the agency gives an opinion on the risks of corruption.

There is no indication that the Government plans to amend its rules of procedure and other relevant acts to oblige legislators to seek the agency’s opinion. Furthermore, there are no indicators showing that the Agency has increased the number of acts on which it provides an opinion regarding the risks of corruption. https://acas.rs/cyr/opinions/all

Last update 28 March 2025

Parliamentary committees should be obliged by parliamentary rules of procedure to consider the agency’s analyses of draft legislation and should proactively seek the agency’s support in drafting amendments.

There is no indication that the Parliament plans to amend its rules of procedure to fulfil this recommendation.

Last update 28 March 2025

Parliament needs to amend the ACA Law to require the agency to publish its opinions and explain how the regulations' proponents acted according to the agency’s opinion within a legally mandated deadline.

There is no indication that the Parliament plans to amend the Law on the ACA to make it mandatory for the agency to publish its opinions. The Law on the ACA does not forbid ACA to publish its opinion, so, the agency can publish all of the opinions, but there is no will.

Last update 28 March 2025

The agency should proactively publish on its website opinions given to officials regarding the performance of other functions or jobs and other matters without revealing personal data.

The Law on the ACA does not forbid ACA to publish its opinions, so, the agency can publish all of the opinions, but there is no will.

Last update 28 March 2025

The agency should make all its registers more user-friendly (for example, with the possibility to sort data from asset declarations) and clarify to what extent they are accurate. The agency should also link all public records, or their parts, managed by the agency for an easier search of data.

There are no indications that the agency plans to technically improve the registers it maintains to facilitate user searches or include links.

Last update 28 March 2025

Parliament needs to amend the Law on the Prevention of Corruption: to make it mandatory for public officials to share in their published asset declarations the assets of public officials’ firms such as shares in another company and real estate and information about income from allowed private resources; to set a legally prescribed minimum number of controls and minimum content for the control of asset declarations that the agency has to perform and provide sufficient powers and resources for such controls (for example, every official to be checked within four years, or the development of methodologies for risk assessment).

There are no indications that amendments to the Law on the Prevention of Corruption are being prepared in order to meet this recommendation.

Last update 28 March 2025

Parliament should promptly discuss the agency’s reports and call for responsible elected officials when problems identified in previous year’s reports from the agency are still unresolved.

Parliament does not discuss the agency’s reports and recommendations. The reports appear on the parliamentary agenda months after being submitted and are usually only acknowledged through the adoption of a Conclusion. So far, there has been no parliamentary practice of analysing or monitoring the implementation of the agency’s recommendations.

Last update 28 March 2025

The government should propose, and parliament should adopt amendments to the Law on Financing Political Activities to remove identified weaknesses in the system, and clearly set out the responsibilities of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption and other authorities in the process of control of political activities and political entities, and to precisely determine obligations and mechanisms for transparent financing of political entities, at least one year prior to next election. The law should establish thresholds for the cost of the election campaign per one electoral list/presidential candidate; the law should redefine the purpose of budget subsidies and their distribution in a way that funds for campaigns are distributed before elections, while the funds for regular party financing may not be used to finance election campaigns; the law should stipulate the obligation of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption in the control of political parties, related to deadlines, transparency and content of the control reports; the law should more precisely regulate the purpose of tax administration control of party’s donors, in order to prevent abuse; transparency of financing during the campaign should be regulated by introducing a system of transparent accounts that would enable the timely publishing of political parties’ incomes and expenditures; the law should strengthen regulation of third-party campaigning and financing of activities by candidates and explicitly prohibit all forms of abuse of public assets for the campaign purposes.

Although a Working Group for the improvement of electoral conditions, formed in April 2024, consisting of members of Parliament representing parliamentary groups, representatives of national minority political parties without parliamentary groups, and representatives of three civil society organisations, with the aim of improving electoral conditions in line with the ODIHR recommendations, met several times and was actively engaged in proposing amendments to the Law, no results were achieved due to the obstruction of group members representing the authorities, which led to a complete standstill in the working group's activities. http://www.parlament.gov.rs/Prvi_sastanak__Radne_grupe_za_unapre%C4%91enje_izbornog_procesa.48936.941.html

Last update 28 March 2025

The government should propose and parliament should adopt amendments to other laws to restrict opportunities for the abuse of public office and resources to promote parties in election campaigns. These amendments could include a ban on the distribution of extraordinary social benefits during the campaign, restrictions on new employment in the public sector during the campaign, and restrictions on public officials’ promotional activities during the campaign.

There are no indications that the Government is preparing a draft to amend the law in order to implement this recommendation.

Last update 28 March 2025

The government and parliament should amend the criminal offence set in the Law on Financing of Political Activities to criminalise threats to political party service providers and adequately punish all types of retribution towards both party donors and service providers.

Although a Working Group for the improvement of electoral conditions, formed in April 2024, consisting of members of Parliament representing parliamentary groups, representatives of national minority political parties without parliamentary groups, and representatives of three civil society organisations, with the aim of improving electoral conditions in line with the ODIHR recommendations, met several times and was actively engaged in proposing amendments to the Law, no results were achieved due to the obstruction of group members representing the authorities, which led to a complete standstill in the working group's activities. http://www.parlament.gov.rs/Prvi_sastanak__Radne_grupe_za_unapre%C4%91enje_izbornog_procesa.48936.941.html

Last update 28 March 2025

The Agency for Prevention of Corruption shall enforce adequate sanctions instead of issuing warning measures when a political party repeats a law violation.

Following reports by civil society organizations regarding violations of electoral legislation, the Agency generally issues warnings and cautionary measures. However, there is no available data indicating that the Agency initiated misdemeanour proceedings against entities that violated the law. The Agency’s practice suggests a lack of willingness to implement this recommendation. https://www.acas.rs/storage/page_files/Izve%C5%A1taj o radu za 2023. godinu Agencije za spre%C4%8Davanje korupcije.pdf

Last update 28 March 2025

The Agency for Prevention of Corruption shall publish the outcomes of initiated proceedings (decision of public prosecutor, criminal or misdemeanour court).

The Agency only publishes statistics in its annual reports. It does not publish on its website the decisions of misdemeanour courts in cases initiated by the Agency, nor does it provide information about the actions taken by public prosecutors based on reports or notifications submitted by the Agency

Last update 28 March 2025

The government and parliament should respect media strategy and complete the legislative process by amending newly adopted laws, especially regarding media ownership and mechanisms for protecting pluralism by: respecting media freedom and establishing legal guarantees for it; ensuring that state ownership will not jeopardise the diversity of media content and removing provisions that allow state-owned companies like Telekom Srbija to own media; enabling the visibility of all TV channels to all citizens starting at least with awarding the fifth media service licence with national frequency to one of the independent broadcasters; securing a completely independent functioning of the regulatory body, including: provisions that enable judicial and civil control of REM’s actions following complaints from citizens and organisations; introducing provisions that prescribe the criteria and methodology on the basis of which REM monitors media reporting during election campaigns in order to avoid abuse of state institutions and functions; removing all forms of “covert control” through the biased use of budget money in project financing.

The media strategy is not being implemented. Two years after the public call was announced, the fifth national television frequency has still not been awarded (according to Serbian law, there should be five national frequencies). REM did not publish a report on the monitoring of programs during the election campaign for the December 2023 elections, even though the report was adopted at a REM Council session in July 2024, seven months after the elections took place. After amendments to the laws on public information and electronic media were passed in October 2023, despite strong objections from media experts, Telekom was given the possibility to become a media owner. According to media reports, Telekom is acquiring Kurir and other media outlets under the Mondo INC group. (Telekom Srbija a.d. is a Serbian telecommunications operator, which already owns various media operations ranging from entertainment and sports to Euronews Serbia and Bloomberg Adria. The legal changes have enabled it to purchase additional specialized and informational channels. Even though the newly adopted (October 2023). The law on Electronic Media stipulated the election of the new REM Council by November 2024; this process was stalled by the representatives of the authorities and was initiated only after the expiration of the mandate of the last Council. The process was marked by controversies, pressure on independent candidates, and the withdrawal of a large number of candidates, which has left REM functioning without a Council for the past five months. https://n1info.rs/vesti/podsecanje-na-zamrznuti-konkurs-saveta-rem-a-peta-frekvencija-nedosanjani-san/; https://www.raskrikavanje.rs/page.php?id=Vazni-medijski-trenuci-2023--iz-perspektive-Raskrikavanja-1272; https://www.cenzolovka.rs/trziste/telekom-i-dalje-cuti-o-kupovini-kurira-a-zezelj-kaze-greska-je-sto-pitate-nas-ne-znamo-sta-oni-planiraju/; https://n1info.rs/vesti/koliko-telekom-ima-televizija/

Last update 28 March 2025

The government and parliament should finally adopt the Law on Public Media Services, in line with the media strategy, and not only periodically change the provisions that continuously extend the payment of the subscription.

At the first extraordinary session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in its 14th convocation, held on 23 July 2024, the Assembly adopted the law on Amendments to the Law on the Temporary Regulation of the Method of Collecting the Public Media Service Fee. These amendments did not fulfil the provisions of the Media Strategy, nor did they include other changes to the Law. http://www.parlament.gov.rs/upload/archive/files/cir/pdf/zakoni/14_saziv/1618-24.pdf

Last update 28 March 2025

The government should enforce the independence and efficiency of judicial institutions in line with the media strategy and with the adoption of the action plan for 2023-2025, in the protection of journalists and media freedom (attacks, lawsuits, court proceedings or indictments) by: adopting binding rules for prosecutors to take immediate measures in cases of violence against journalists; ensuring the conditions for the fast and regular implementation of these measures.

Attacks and lawsuits against journalists show a worsening trend. The latest decision of the prosecutor was to dismiss the criminal complaint, in spite of a video recording clearly showing the journalist being punched in the face, after nearly 11 months of a preliminary investigation. From 12 June to 2 July 2024, a public debate was held on the 2024-2025 Action Plan for the Media Strategy, but the document was not adopted. The work on this Action plan is still in progress. https://www.bazenuns.rs/srpski/napadi-na-novinare; https://nuns.rs/nuns-udaranje-novinara-nije-incident-vec-ozbiljno-krivicno-delo-i-napad-na-slobodu-medija/; https://mit.gov.rs/vest/6072/javna-rasprava-o-nacrtu-akcionog-plana-za-pracenje-sprovodjenja-strategije-razvoja-sistema-javnog-informisanja-u-republici-srbiji-za-period-2020-2025-godina-u-periodu-2024-2025-godina.php

Last update 28 March 2025

CSOs should expand their activity in fighting corruption to regional, national and local levels and initiate and strengthen cooperation with interested parties from CSOs whose primary areas of interest are not anti-corruption, the business sector and state bodies.

In the past several years, there has been no emergence of new coalitions or programmes related to anti-corruption efforts within the scope of CSOs’ work.

Last update 28 March 2025

The government should ensure a more transparent distribution of budget funds for CSO programmes of public interest and more effective supervision over implementing such programmes.

According to BIRN’s research, the practice of non-transparent allocation of state funds to CSOs has continued. There is no available information indicating that any form of oversight exists over the implementation of programmes by ministries allocating funds to civil society organisations. Additionally, reports on the implementation of such calls for proposals are not publicly available in the ministries distributing the funds. Furthermore, one of the organizations that are financed solely from public funds made payments to volunteers in the call centre of the ruling political party during 2023. election campaign. https://birn.rs/nastavlja-se-dodeljivanje-miliona-fantomskim-organizacijama/; https://koms.rs/2024/08/novi-milioni-za-nevidljive-aktivnosti-cerob-a/

Last update 28 March 2025

The government and parliament should amend tax regulations to enable more significant resources for CSOs for policy-making, advocacy, and oversight of public authorities, and to stimulate corporate philanthropy for CSOs dealing with these issues.

There is no indication that the government and parliament plan to amend tax regulations to enable more significant resources for CSOs for policy-making advocacy and oversight of public authorities and to stimulate corporate philanthropy for CSOs dealing with these issues.

Last update 28 March 2025

Тhe government should establish a centralised coordination unit to monitor, control and supervise state-owned enterprises, and the data from that system should be available to the public.

The Law on the Management of State-Owned Enterprises, adopted in 2023, stipulates that a Coordination Body should be established by a by-law to monitor, control, and supervise state-owned enterprises and that the decisions of this body should be publicly available. A review of the website of the Ministry of Economy, which is responsible for adopting this by-law, shows that the Coordination Body has not been established. Furthermore, there are no media reports mentioning this body, which is required by law. https://pravno-informacioni-sistem.rs/eli/rep/sgrs/skupstina/zakon/2023/76/2/reg

Last update 28 March 2025

The government should ensure greater independence in business operations, especially from political influence, by ending the practice of appointing acting directors and announcing competitions for the selection of directors of public companies for all companies managed by legal or illegal (expired mandate) acting directors. After the start of the implementation of the Law on the Management of Companies Owned by the Republic of Serbia, legality should be ensured by the representative state supervisory boards and state representatives in shareholders’ assemblies.

There is no information that the Government announced any public competitions for the selection of directors during the observed period. On the contrary, it continued appointing acting directors. Although the law stipulates that this status may last no longer than one year, the directors of three public enterprises in Niš and one institution have remained in acting status for significantly longer. Transparency Serbia regularly publishes reviews of the situation in public companies regarding the status of directors. https://transparentnost.org.rs/images/dokumenti_uz_vesti/Konkursi_vd_stanje_izbordirektora-_republička_JP_i_preduzeća_u_državnom_vlasništvu_17._maj_2024.pdf

Last update 28 March 2025

The government and the assembly should prepare and adopt amendments to the Law on the Prevention of Corruption to invalidate the authentic interpretation of the definition of the term public functionary and ensure that directors, acting directors, supervisory board members and shareholder meetings of state-owned enterprises have the status of public officials and are subject to asset and income verification and conflict of interest regulation.

There are no indications that the Government and the National Assembly are preparing or planning to adopt amendments to the Law on the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption.

Last update 28 March 2025

The government and the assembly should prepare and adopt amendments to the Law on Public Enterprises and the Law on the Management of Companies Owned by the Republic of Serbia to reduce the possibility of abusing these companies' resources for political promotion or goals unrelated to the company’s field of work.

There are no indications that the Government and the National Assembly are preparing or planning to adopt amendments to the Law on Public Enterprises and the Law on the Management of Companies Owned by the Republic of Serbia.

Last update 28 March 2025

The government should specify, to the extent possible, the criteria for determining whether directors performed their duties unprofessionally and negligently and whether there was a (significant) deviation from the achievement of the basic goals of work for the public company, that is, from its business plan.

There are no indications that the Government is preparing to take any steps towards fulfilling this recommendation.

Last update 28 March 2025

The government and the National Assembly need to change the entire legal framework related to the business in order to promote integrity in the sector by: introducing transparent supervision over its implementation, starting with prescribing obligatory values and a code of conduct, introducing integrity policies, resources and systems, integrity risk management; ensuring the promotion of integrity in the private sector while preventing, detecting and managing fraud and corruption, starting with strengthening the laws that regulate public procurement by “closing” the legal loopholes that the government uses to rig the tenders; in other words, the government should cease the practice of using an exception based on interstate agreements for all big jobs; discontinuing the dependence of businesses on their connections with those in power, in particular when it comes to small enterprises at the local level and tenders by: a) selecting projects based on identified needs and public interest; b) estimating costs and benefits based on evidence; c) having the SAI audit regularly.

Last update 28 March 2025

The chamber of commerce and other company associations should strengthen the role of the private sector in preventing corruption by: introducing incentives and supporting companies in the sector’s anti-corruption activities and their relations with CSOs and state bodies; promoting the principles of good governance, particularly the rule of law, transparency, accountability and integrity through training provided by experts and using practical examples of good practices; designing the proper conduct of a risk assessment that companies could apply.

Last update 28 March 2025

Companies must provide secure and accessible channels for whistleblowers by setting up precise, safe and diversified reporting mechanisms on suspected corruption, including reporting in person, by designated email address, by an online platform such as an intranet or external channel if no internal one is available or safe; the possibility of anonymous reporting; » ensuring the reporting process’s confidentiality (of the content and the whistleblower) and defining what “confidentiality” means; supporting and protecting reporting persons and preventing retaliation against them.

Last update 28 March 2025