On 8 December, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Serbia Maja Popović participated in an online international conference entitled Activities and cooperation of anti-corruption authorities under new global conditions. The online conference was organised by the Anti-Corruption Agency with the OSCE support, and it marked the International Anti-Corruption Day (9 December). Some of the conference speakers included President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dačić, Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Sem Fabrizi, President of Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) Marin Mrčela, and Director of the Anti-Corruption Agency Dragan Sikimić who gave the welcome speech.
At the conference, Minister Popović emphasised that fight against corruption and organised crime was a strategic priority of the Serbian Government. She noted that new challenges demanded a joining of forces to create solutions based on an advanced cooperation and the use of new, primarily digital tools in all areas, including anti-corruption.
The Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Ministry of Justice remain committed to fight against corruption, continuing to monitor the results of the solutions achieved, being attentive to the needs and experiences of both the state authorities and the civil sector, in order to make way for an open, transparent and fully inclusive process.
Minister Popović said that the Ministry of Justice would continue to improve the normative framework in accordance with international standards and recommendations, while investing in human and material resources for their implementation. She highlighted that the normative anti-corruption framework would be completed once the amendments to Serbia's Constitution, along with a set of laws affected by those amendments, are adopted.
Speaking of reform process, Minister Popović explained that clear goals had been set: acceleration of reforms, alignment with international standards, advancement of intersectoral cooperation, and further strengthening of capacities of state and judicial bodies to prevent and fight corruption. She stressed that a normative corruption prevention framework had been established with the adoption of the Corruption Prevention Act, the application of which commenced on 1 September. This Act — she explained — had been aligned with international standards and, most importantly, GRECO's recommendations.
In addition, ‘these legislative solutions have greatly expanded the competences and increased the independence of the Anti-Corruption Agency. Some of the many novelties introduced by the new normative framework are direct access to electronic databases and interactive networking with and between other state bodies’, Minister Popović said.
‘Activities leading to digital interconnectivity and networking of state bodies as well as continued improvement of inter-sectoral cooperation are one of the priorities when it comes to repressing corruption. For that reason, such activities have been incorporated into the revised Action Plan for Chapter 23,’ said the Justice Minister, briefly touching on the importance of international cooperation in this area.
‘In the concrete example of the Ministry of Justice, the automatisation of a public bidding procedure, i.e. electronic sale of moveable and immovable property in enforcement proceedings, and the development of e-Auction as the sole central and transparent platform where all sales in the country are announced and conducted, have been key to fulfilling the purpose of preventing a negative perception of corruption, which is regaining the trust of the public in those who have been granted public authority. The shaken trust of the public has been regained with the launch of the e-Auction, whereby bidders’ identities during auctions are unknown to the bidders themselves, the body or the enforcement officer conducting the sale, and the bank of choice for the transaction. Everything is done with an ID number – the only element of identification – and the Ministry of Justice intends not to make any changes to the contrary’, Minister Popović emphasised.