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The report of the anti-corruption body of the Council of Europe was published today, after obtaining the consent of the Government of Serbia, and states that Serbia has not complied with most of the recommendations given by that body five years ago, mainly related to the independence of the judiciary. .
Serbia has made no progress in preventing corruption among judges, prosecutors and parliamentarians, which is why the anti-corruption body of the Council of Europe has described it as “globally unsatisfactory”.
Out of a total of 13 recommendations that GRECO made to Serbia in 2015, only two have been fully met to date: the approval of the Lobby Law and the strengthening of the role of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption.
All other recommendations, from changes in the way in which the members of the Superior Council of the Judiciary and the Council of State Prosecutors are elected to eliminate political influence, to defining clear rules when conflicts of interest between judges are not met , prosecutors and deputies, have not been met.
Measures taken to guarantee the independence of prosecutors were praised, mainly through the independence commissioner, who should protect prosecutors from political pressure. Until a few months ago, this function was performed by Goran Ilić, who considers that the report’s assessments are realistic and that the poor situation of the judiciary is a consequence of the Ministry of Justice in previous years being more concerned with dealing with dissidents than with complying with recommendations.
Source: H1
“Fighting and opposing corruption is a problem of institutions and we could agree with the report’s conclusion that there is no complete solution from our authorities, at least in the previous period, to oppose corruption. However, let me tell you, opposing corruption is a problem of institutions, but it is also partly a problem of mentality, ”says Ilić.
To change the attitude of citizens towards corruption, an open debate is needed in society, which in the previous three years, while awaiting the change of the Constitution, has been absent.
“The entire process of drafting the constitutional reforms was carried out in a closed circle, although in the end the citizens should speak about them in a referendum because it is about reforming the constitution. The objective is not only to implement the constitutional reforms, but also also formally implement the recommendations. ” which was awarded by GRECO, without the essence being to achieve the appropriate standards of the European Union and in the end the citizens feel lost ”, says Zlata Djordjevic of Transparency Serbia.
In addition to the Council of Europe, the European Commission stated in its latest progress report that Serbia is far from European standards and that the government has not made any progress on the rule of law. Therefore, this year Serbia will have no new chapters open in the negotiations with Brussels.
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