Insufficient results in preventing corruption in the police and within the top executive functions

Of the 24 recommendations for the prevention of corruption related to the police and within the top executive functions, which Serbia received from GRECO in 2022, only one was fulfilled within the first set deadline. One third of the additional deadline of 18 months has already passed, but there has been no significant progress in 2024 either.

As shown by the findings of the analysis presented by Transparency Serbia, such a weak performance was mostly due to the fact that a new Law on Internal Affairs was not adopted this year, nor was the Law on Prevention of Corruption amended.

The new Law on Internal Affairs and by-laws should, among other things, reduce political influence in the appointment of directors and other high executives in the police, as well as ensure that the mechanism for investigating complaints on the performance of police officers is sufficiently independent and transparent.

The biggest consequence of the failure to amend the Law on the Prevention of Corruption is reflected in the fact that a large number of persons who make important decisions and decide on very valuable public resources still do not have the status of a public official, and thus no obligation to submit reports on assets and income or report conflicts of interest. In addition, there are still no obligations and restrictions for advisers and chief of staff to the president and members of the government.

While excuses for delays in legal changes are often sought in early elections, there is no justification for not taking measures that do not require any legislative work, but only political will.

As a result:

• The practice that the Government regularly reviews the reports of the Anti-Corruption Council was not established;
• The government and many ministries do not disclose the names and other details of advisers;
• The Agency did not plan to verify the accuracy and completeness of the reports on the assets and incomes of the President of the Republic, as well as current and former members of the Government in this year;
• Regular integrity checks of new and existing police officers have not yet been established.

Unlike the Law on Prevention of Corruption, where the new draft was prepared in the summer of 2023, and the Law on Internal Affairs, where the new draft is planned to appear in early 2025, work on amendments to important regulations that would ensure:

• that the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime is responsible for investigating corruption in all holders of the highest positions in the country;
• that members of the Government should not be protected by immunity in the cases of crimes related to corruption;
• to record informal contacts of lobbyists and other interested persons with the President of the Republic, members of the Government and their advisors;
• the right to appeal in the event that the Government or the President denies citizens’ access to information of public importance;

Contrary to the declared intention of the authorities in Serbia to meet the conditions for joining the EU by the end of 2026 and the fact that the implementation of all GRECO recommendations is among the key requirements of the EU in the field of the fight against corruption, the Prime Minister's exposé did not mention this, while the National Anti-Corruption Strategy plans to fulfill only 35% of GRECO recommendations by the end of 2028.  

An additional cause for concern is that the approach to implementing the recommendations so far has been minimalistic or that the adopted measures have not been sufficiently promoted, which reduces their effects. Thus, according to GRECO's assessment, Recommendation No. XXII – that a body responsible for recording and evaluating gifts be set up as soon as possible and that the value of occasional gifts that can be kept by police officers be considerably reduced. On the other hand, the opportunity to further promote this mechanism was missed, so that citizens would know what gifts they are allowed to give to police officers, and to whom they can report if they know that a police officer has violated the rules.

GRECO has made progress through the adoption of a new Code of Police Ethics and the implementation of training on it, but the adoption of practical guidelines for exemplary action is still required. Progress has also been made through the establishment of records of reporting additional work of police officers. Similarly to the reporting of gifts, according to Transparency, this measure will not bring the desired results if it is reduced to a mere recording of situations in which conscientious police officers respected the rules and reported gifts or additional work. On the contrary – the focus should be on creating greater opportunities to detect cases where unscrupulous police officers have knowingly withheld information that could call into question their integrity.

The key recommendations of the research are as follows:

1. The Action Plan for the first year of implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy should be expanded to include solutions for all the Recommendations from the Fifth Round of GRECO evaluation, either by fully implementing the recommendations or by starting preparations for it, where a longer deadline is needed (amendments to the Constitution).

2. The development of the Action Plan for the period 2026-2028, which can be updated at the end of 2025, should start without delay on the basis of data on the implementation of the first Action Plan.

3. The objectives related to the implementation of the GRECO recommendations should be set in the Strategy so that Serbia fully fulfils its obligations, and in this sense, it is necessary for the Government to adopt amendments to this document.

4. The National Assembly, which was not involved in the drafting of the Anti-Corruption Strategy, should consider how it could contribute to its implementation, and introduce a regular practice of reviewing reports on the implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan in the form of a public hearing, once a year.

5. The draft Law on the Prevention of Corruption should be significantly amended, after which a new public debate should be organized on it.

6. The process of amending the Law on Lobbying (Ministry of Justice) and the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance (Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government) should be opened without delay in relation to all issues that have proven to be controversial.

7. The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, the President of the Republic, the Government, ministries and the National Assembly should change the practice of their work, without waiting for changes in regulations, including in the following:

a.  Regular review of the report of the Anti-Corruption Council and appointment of missing members on the basis of the proposal of the Council itself.

b.  Publication of information on contacts with lobbyists (persons covered by the current Law), but also with other interested parties.

c.  Disclosure of information about hired advisors and other persons who provide advisory services.

d.  Preparation of analyses on corruption risks in regulations, regardless of whether the ministries have requested an opinion on the draft law and publication of information on the treatment of these analyses (Agency).

e.  Regular handling of requests for access to information of public importance (Government, President).

f.   Inclusion on the agenda only of those draft laws for which the procedure of public consultation/public debate has previously been conducted and whose rationale contains full information on the impact on the preparation of these regulations (National Assembly).

g.  Inclusion of members of the Government from 2024, 2022, 2020 and 2016, as well as the President of the Republic and his advisors in the control plan of the statements on assets and income for 2025. (Agency)  

8.  The Ministry of the Interior should publish and promote the acts it has adopted on the basis of GRECO recommendations.

9.  The Ministry of the Interior should plan a wider range of activities related to the implementation of GRECO recommendations, especially when it comes to monitoring compliance with the Code and certain prescribed rules (receiving gifts and additional work of police officers).

10. Upon completion of the competition for the selection of the Director of Police, the Ministry of the Interior should publish information on the basis of which the public will be able to gain insight into whether the best among the candidates has been proposed, and the Government should then appoint the Director without delay.