GRECO recommendations met but problems remained
Transparency –Serbia indicates that even after fulfilment of GRECO recommendations from 2010 the need to significantly improve Law on Financing of Political Parties and Criminal Code still exists.
GRECO (mechanism of Council of Europe) published, after its plenary assembly, that Serbia successfully fulfilled tasks from third round of evaluations, but that it is necessary as well to monitor implementation of those regulations. http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/greco/evaluations/round3/GrecoRC3%282014%2915_Second_Serbia_EN.pdf
That finalizes the story that commenced in October 2010 with publishing of recommendations for specifying of Criminal Code and Law on Financing of Political Parties. http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/greco/evaluations/round3/GrecoEval3%282010%293_Serbia_Two_EN.pdf Anyhow, Governments of Serbia, since 2010 till today, proceeded by recommendations from third round of evaluations better than by those from first and second cycle. Namely, from 2006 to 2010 certain recommendations remained merely "partially implemented" (among other, in regards to protection of whistleblowers).
Recommendations for Criminal Code, that were implemented, refer to: sanctioning and bribing related to activities out of official authorities, sanctioning of bribing of foreign arbiters and judges, changes of provisions on corruption in private sector, sanctioning of bribing abroad and termination of possibility for returning bribe to the person that reports the corruption before it gets revealed. Remains to be seen in what level these changes will influence prosecuting corruption. The only thing that is certain for now is that "removing" of abuses in private sector from article 359 of Criminal Code (abuse of official position) allowed more clear insight into number of cases reported and investigated in this most widely defined criminal act. Transparency Serbia thinks that implementing of recommendation to terminate possibility for returning bribe to person that reports corruption can even have damaging effects, because already insufficient stimulus for reporting corruption by participants in illegal activities is decreased. In situations when corruption is known only to participants of such irregularity, priority should be revealing most of it, including measures for obligatory release of liability (instead of recent optional release of sentence).
Situation with recommendations for party financing is unusual. Namely, at the time when the report was published (2010), Ministry of Justice and Anticorruption Agency prepared new Law on Financing of Political Activities, and used this opportunity to amend all loopholes from the old Law (from 2003) that GRECO pointed out to. However, numerous problems remained. Primarily because GRECO mission is limited to consideration of certain aspects of party financing, therefore certain matters were left behind. Secondly, because implementation of the new Law showed in the past three years, numerous defects of newly adopted legal solutions. As we already pointed out even the newest draft of law amendments does not deal with some of the key shortages http://www.transparentnost.org.rs/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=801%3Akorisne-izmene-ali-najbitniji-problemi-zakona-ostaju-netaknuti&catid=34%3Afacebook-naslovi&Itemid=27&lang=sr. Therefore, publishing of positive GRECO recommendation on reforms form party financing area, implemented three years ago, shouldn’t in any case be interpreted as a positive sign of progress in this area. On the contrary, except from the problems Transparency – Serbia pointed out to in several occasions, it was done couple of days ago by international stakeholders. Merely a week ago European Commission’s Progress Report was published that concludes necessity for changes of those regulations before next elections (among other, with reference to findings of other organizations - ODIHR).
Transparency – Serbia
Belgrade 17. 10. 2014.
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