Today, Justice Minister Nela Kuburović signed on the behalf of the Ministry of Justice a Cooperation Agreement for setting-up the National Crime Intelligence System (NCIS). Setting-up this system would enable management and exchange of data pertaining to organised crime and other forms of serious crime between the competent government authorities and institutions via a unique ICT platform.
The Agreement was also signed by representatives of other competent authorities, namely Deputy President and Minister of Interior Mr Nebojša Stefanović, Minister of Finance Mr Siniša Mali on behalf of the Directorate for Money Laundering Prevention, the Customs Administration and the Tax Administration, Republic Prosecutor Ms Zagorka Dolovac, Director of the Office of National Security and Classified Information Protection Mr Goran Matić, Director of the Anti-Corruption Agency Mr Dragan Sikimić, and a representative of the Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime, respectively.
Minister Kuburović said that setting-up NCIS was one of Serbia’s Chapter 24 obligations. She explained that one of the conditions to set them up was the adoption of the Organisation and Competence of Government Authorities in Fighting Organised Crime, Terrorism and Corruption Act. She highlighted that in little over 18 months since the Act’s enforcement, over 600 final judgements of conviction had been passed on account of organised crime and corruption. ”I have a deep appreciation for the prosecutors who showed that they were ready to implement this Act and the police for its strong cooperation, all of which has contributed to achieving satisfactory results”, Minister Kuburović noted.
The Justice Minister added that the precursor to the NCIS was the signing of the Cooperation Protocol between the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Interior in 2017, which enabled the electronic exchange of data from the residence and criminal records. She noted that in the two years of the Protocol implementation, more than 640,000 requests for residence records had been made, including that from June 2019, 16,000 requests for access to criminal records had been made.
Speaking about the further development of the electronic data exchange system for the purpose of creating more efficient mechanisms for fighting organised crime and terrorism, Minister Kuburović added that the National Database for the Prevention of Terrorism Act was underway. Mr Stefanović pointed out that intensified cooperation in data exchange would enable a synchronised response of the government authorities to crime, a fast data exchange and, consequently, a more efficient fight against crime. For these reasons – he explained – setting-up the NCIS was of great importance, more so because it would allow the State to give more severe blows to organised crime groups.
The Finance Minister added that Serbia was committed to the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing, and announced numerous legislative activities in that field in the upcoming period. He added that the Cooperation Agreement was a prime example of joint cooperation and Serbia’s willingness to tackle security issues and crime seriously.
Head of the European Union Delegation to Serbia Mr Sem Fabrizi said that organised crime was every country’s problem, and that fighting it necessitated international cooperation - all of which made data exchanging highly important.