November 14 (SeeNews) - The institutional overlap in fighting and preventing corruption is the main reason behind the weak justice and law enforcement in Serbia, a report by Transparency International showed.
The report on fighting corruption in the Western Balkans and Turkey is an in-depth research into anti-corruption efforts of non-EU Balkan countries. The report published on the website of the corruption watchdog last week points to a set of priorities for reform.
"The Serbian Anti-Corruption Agency’s position is weakened by unclear division of mandates for monitoring the implementation of the country’s anticorruption strategy between the government’s Anti-Corruption Council, the Ministry of Justice and the governmental coordination body headed by the prime minister," Transparency International said. "Strengthening of the agency’s role in all anti-corruption fields is envisaged by the 2013–2018 National Anti-Corruption Strategy, though progress has been slow due to a lack of support from the government and parliament."
Transparency International highlighted the significant improvement regarding the transparency of political parties’ financial information over the last five years in Serbia as a result of compliance with the new legal provisions, in force since 2012. However, it noted that the influence of political parties in the public sector is still considered to be among the leading causes of corruption.
The organisation recommended to the Serbian High Judicial Council to implement procedures for the appraisal of judges and conduct procedures for establishing the accountability of judges for omissions in their work, indicating the length of the proceedings, ignorance of the law or unprofessional conduct. The State Prosecutorial Council and prosecution offices, in turn, should increase the number of prosecutors who investigate cases of corruption to conduct proactive investigations by identified patterns of corrupt behaviour, Transparency International said.
As for Serbia's political system, Transparency International considers that the government should propose amendments to the Law on Financing Political Activities as envisaged by the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan, so as to clearly set out and divide the responsibilities of the anti-corruption agency, the State Audit Institution. Moreover, the parliament should amend the Law on Public Information and Media to require media outlets to make public details on the leading financiers and advertisers.