Making public debate truly public
Transparency Serbia considers as inappropriate that Ministries’ and Government’s group for promotion of election process hasn’t made any effort to enable wider public and stakeholders to participate public debate on changes of three laws, and especially the media.
Public debate on changes of the Law on Anticorruption Agency, on public enterprises and financing of political activities was announced on the web-sites of the Ministries of Justice, economy and finances, and in the program of the debate there was no mention on where the debate, scheduled for 16 October, will take place.
Announcement on the public debate was published on the web-site of the Office for Cooperation with Civil society two days before the round table, also without stating the venue. Therefore, the debate, held in the Palata Srbija, was attended by only three civil society organizations that received the invitation directly from the working group - CESID, CRTA and TS. The debate was not attended by the representatives of the mediathat were not invited to this event in a way state organs usually do.
Such form of organizing of round table is especially strange having in mind that Government stated in its press release issued after holding of the round table that "public debate was initiated with the goal of involving as much as possible stakeholders from both sides of the political scene,government institutions, international and nongovernmental organizations and civil society institutions".
In the meeting itself, no openness to any recommendations of the civil society organizations was shown, that came out of the framework of what government working group formulated as draft. Related to regulating of the officials campaign, it is even explicitly stated that this matter will not be comprehended with this package of law amending.
On the other hand, press release states that "opinions, that are stated during today’s public debate,will be inserted as proposals of changes of legal regulations already on the next debate, that will be held in the next period".
TS therefore expects next public debate with unease, in the hope that Government will do everything possible to widen the circle of participants and to enable the press to report directly from it and not through press release or statements.
News
Important messages for the fight against corruption in the report of the European Commission
Transparency - Serbia points that the latest report of the European Commission[1]gives great importance to corruption as a problem for Serbia's progress on the European path, and confirms that state authorities have not implemented numerous laws and plans to fight corruption. In addition to the fact that the word "corruption…
... detaljnije ...Transparency International on International Right to Know Day
The right to know is crucial in a crisis COVID-19 is no reason for restrictions on freedom of information This International Right to Know Day, we call on all governments and public authorities to ensure that the ongoing COVID-19 crisis is not a pretext for limiting citizens’ right to information. Legal and practical processes for…
... detaljnije ...Transparency Serbia submitted a proposal to delete illegal representatives of state-owned companies from the register
Of the 34 state-owned enterprises to which the Law on Public Enterprises applies, only nine have directors selected in a competition, as required by law, while 22 are led by acting directors. In three other companies, it was not possible to determine the status of the director. In 22 cases where…
... detaljnije ...The prosecutor did not investigate whether Drobnjak abused his position in Kukulovce
The Special Department for the Suppression of Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office (HPP) in Nis dismissed the criminal complaint of the organization Transparency Serbia against Zoran Drobnjak, the acting director of the SOE "Roads of Serbia"without valid arguments. The complaint reffers to giving bribes in connection with thevoting…
... detaljnije ...Illegal concealment of medical procurement documents
Documents on how public funds are spent on the procurement of medical equipment are twice concealed – The Serbian Government marked them as "strictly confidential” and the procurements were conducted without following the law, it is shown in response from the National Health Insurance Fund to TS. Despite the fact that…
... detaljnije ...Just one point below the line
The very fact that the government of Serbia (i.e. the prime minister’s office) analyzed the content of a report related to the situation in Serbia is, regardless of how incomplete their analysis was (which will be discussed further), a sign of progress compared to the usual flat assessments and outright…
... detaljnije ...The Government should react to negative assessments by solving the identified problems
Coalition prEUgovor welcomes the interest shown by the Government of Serbia in the findings of the ALARM report, which this group of civil society organizations has been publishing every six months for seven years, following the situation in the areas related to Chapter 23 (judiciary, anti-corruption, fundamental rights) and 24…
... detaljnije ...Reporting on police repression of corruption in Serbia October 2019-March 2020: predominantly small and mid-level cases
Law enforcement informed the public about number of arrests, mostly covering small and mid-level corruption cases, but also few where the illicit gain or rank of perpetuator was higher. prEUgovor member Transparency Serbia prepared an overview of the reported repressive actions during the last six months. The Government web-based platform includes a section…
... detaljnije ...TS addresses parliamentarians
Transparency Serbia - TS (part of the Transparency International network) urged MPs to ask the Serbian government representatives at a parliamentary session on April 28th 2020, to publish information on procurement conducted without application of the Law on Public Procurement during the state of emergency to fight the COVID-19 pandemic…
... detaljnije ...TS calls for procurement transparency in Serbia
Transparency Serbia (TS) requested that all state and medical institutions publish vital information about everything obtained during the state of emergency that was not in line with the Law on Public Procurements. TS said that instead of being available at the official public procurement website, information about buying medical equipment came…
... detaljnije ...
Serbian Government Decree - Unlawful Restriction of Rights
Serbian Government decree on informing the population about the condition and consequences of infectious disease COVID-19 - banning anyone but the Crisis Staff from releasing information about the coronavirus pandemic, was reasonably interpreted as an expression of the intention to control the flow of information between health care institutions and…
... detaljnije ...Emergency procedure - why is it important?
There is no doubt that most MPs would have voted for a declaration of a state of emergency in Serbia if the Assembly had gathered, thus at first glance, in the current situation the fact that the act of proclamation of a state of emergency was jointly adopted by the…
... detaljnije ...Reforming public procurement crucial for fighting corruption in the Western Balkans
Public procurement system in the Western Balkans is one of the critical corruption zones – as the government mechanism for buying everything “from a needle to a locomotive” it has been for a long time considered as such by the European Commission, and with a good reason. In the region with…
... detaljnije ...Investments in realization of non-existent plan
The Minister of Finance announced that the proceeds from the sale of “Komercijalna Banka” will be invested "in a smart way" and "primarily in the investment plan ‘Serbia 2025’ ".These 400 million euros may be used wisely but certainly not on the basis of the "Serbia 2025 Investment Plan", because…
... detaljnije ...“Special law” discharges most valuable public procurement
The Law on Special Procedures for the Implementation of Projects for the Construction and Reconstruction of Line Infrastructure Facilities of Particular Importance for the Republic of Serbia, whose proposal is before MPs, is yet another in a series of acts that may have the purpose and certainly result in undermining…
... detaljnije ...Harmful Consequences of Non-Transparency in Public Property Management
Transparency Serbia considers as extremely useful that the State Audit Institution audited the purposefulness of leasing public property. The findings of the SAI illustrate well the findings of the Local Government Transparency Index for 2019[1]. TS found that 86.9% of municipality units posted calls for leases on their sites, and that…
... detaljnije ...Serbian investigative reporter prevented from speaking at UN anti-corruption conference in Abu Dhabi
Statement from the UNCAC Coalition Issued by Transparency International Secretariat Award-winning Serbian journalist Stevan Dojčinović, founder and editor-in-chief of the Crime and Corruption Reporting Network KRIK, was detained at Abu Dhabi International Airport early Wednesday morning. He was arriving in the United Arab Emirates to speak at a major UN anti-corruption event, the Conference…
... detaljnije ...About anticorruption laws on the International anticorruption day
Transparency Serbia is urging MPs to substantially improve four anti-corruption laws at the session that begins today, on an International Anti-Corruption Day, so that the possibility of misuse of public resources and public office gets curbed. The Government has proposed amendments to several articles in the Law on the Anti-Corruption Agency…
... detaljnije ...Whistleblower from Krušik
Faith of potential criminal procedure against whistleblower from „Krušik“ for „revealing of business secret“ depends on several elements. First from the fact on whether the data he provided to the press even had a status of „business secret“. Whether, in other words, that was the information with commercial value because…
... detaljnije ...Report of the Coalition prEUgovor about the progress of Serbia in chapters 23 and 24
Coalition prEUgovor ascertained in the latest report on fulfilling of criteria for chapters 23 and 24 that tendency of degrading continues, that authorities’ only concern is whether the opposition will boycott the elections, therefore functioning of institutions, rule of law and establishing of social consensus are not the priorities. The summary…
... detaljnije ...
Statement on donations for sport teams – confessing the abuse of public resources
Statement of the Minister of Finances that since 2014 by today two of the largest football and basketball equips „received from the state“ around 4,7 billion of RSD, represents confession that donations were accompanied by the abuse of official post or trading with influence. According to this statement, that was not…
... detaljnije ...Minister announced, ministry doesn’t know what he is talking about
Minister of Finances Siniša Mali stated in April 2019 that study of justification of constructing the national football stadium will be finalized by 10 May 2019. TS requested from the Ministry of Finances by the beginning of May information–to whom, how, in which procedure was entrusted drafting of study, copy…
... detaljnije ...Making public debate truly public
Transparency Serbia considers as inappropriate that Ministries’ and Government’s group for promotion of election process hasn’t made any effort to enable wider public and stakeholders to participate public debate on changes of three laws, and especially the media. Public debate on changes of the Law on Anticorruption Agency, on public enterprises…
... detaljnije ...Changes of the Law on Financing Political Activities
Transparency Serbia (official chapter of Transparency International) finds it useful that draft of amendments to the Law on Financing Political Activities regulates duty of Anticorruption Agency to proceed by complaints during the election campaign in five days deadline, to determine whether there have been violations of regulations and to publish…
... detaljnije ...International Right to Know Day
This years 28 September, International Right to Know Day, we welcomed in Serbia in a much better mood than in previous year. Namely, in one of the several meetings that were dedicated to the right to access to information, representatives of the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-governance implied…
... detaljnije ...Problem of the "officials’ campaigns" remains unresolved
Transparency Serbia (official chapter of Transparency International) emphasizes that interpretations that adoption of the Conclusion of the Government, prohibited or limited "officials’ campaigns",are wrong. More strict regulations could be introduced only with Law, and the chances to do so, on the basis of specific proposals of the amendments formulated by…
... detaljnije ...Final account
Transparency Serbia pointed out that delivering of final budget account to the NA, which has finally happened after more than four years, is only one of the things that Ministry of Finances and the Government had to do in order to make the budget related proceedings more transparent and accountable. According to…
... detaljnije ...Too much secrecy of data in public enterprises
Since the December last year Transparency Serbia monitors implementation of the Law on free Access to Information and announced changes of that Law. Draft changes and amendments of the Law presented by the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-government last year, envisaged significant narrowing the right to free access…
... detaljnije ...Prosecution should react to statements on political blackmail of the employed in the grammar school
Transparency Serbia pointed out to supreme public prosecution in Belgrade–special department for curbing corruption to media statements about blackmailing of employees in in grammar school in BelaCrkva to perform duties beneficial to political party if they wish to save their jobs. Beta news agency published information from the Portal Belocrkvanews which, if turned out…
... detaljnije ...What is the value of the land of "Belgrade waterfront"?
News on sales of the construction land "MarinaDorćol", next to the bank of Danubeprovides excellent insight into proportion of damage that Belgrade and Serbia suffered by signing of contract for the project "Belgrade Waterfront". According to the news, 4 hectare of land next to the river bank, in which 76.000 "of squares…
... detaljnije ...
- 1
- 2
- 3
Pretraga
