On the occasion of 9 December – International Anti-Corruption Day – the Ministry of Justice stated that the year 2019 had been fully dedicated to combating corruption. Serbia took a number of important steps in this area, as verified by EU expert bodies.
Serbia strengthened to a maximum and rounded off its repressive mechanism, while paying equal attention to preventive action. All this contributed to Serbia being removed this year from the list of globally unsatisfactory countries in the fight against corruption, according to the report on Serbia’s compliance with the GRECO recommendations which was adopted at that body’s meeting in late March 2019.
A new Corruption Prevention Act was adopted this year replacing the previous Anti-Corruption Agency Act. The new Act is aligned with the GRECO recommendations and functions as an umbrella piece of legislation governing prevention of corruption. Its application aims at protecting public interest, reducing the corruption risk and strengthening public authorities’ and public officials’ integrity and accountability.
Another important anti-corruption piece of legislation – the Lobbying Act – began to apply in mid-August. It is the first regulation governing lobbying activities in Serbia and one of the anti-corruption mechanisms to reduce the grey area of illicit influence.
With the support from the EU project Prevention and Fight against Corruption, the Ministry of Justice organised a high-level international conference in early November, attended by 200 delegates from more than 10 countries. The conference participants could hear about the work results of Serbia’s four anti-corruption departments.
In just over 18 months of the application of the Organisation and Competence of Government Authorities in the Suppression of Organised Crime, Terrorism and Corruption Act, more than 750 final judgements were pronounced for corruption-related offences.
The Government of the Republic of Serbia shows a clear political will and unambiguous commitment to a strategic approach to the fight against corruption. The state will continue to improve its cooperation at regional and international levels and to align its regulations with recommendations and standards of international institutions and bodies.