The main topic of the fifth CHATvrtak was a critical review of the process of (none) adoption of the new Law on the fight against corruption, which should have been completed in September 2014 according to the Action Plan for the implementation of anti-corruption strategy.
Model of the Law on Agency for the fight against corruption is available to the public and decision-makers for more than a year, but it still hasn’t been adopted. That violated the deadline for the adoption of this document which was planned in Strategy for the fight against corruption. At CHATvrtak, which coalition prEUgovor organized on 25th February 2016 in the Media center, it was estimated that all that sends a bad message.
Member of the Working Group for drafting laws, Nemanja Nenadic from Transparency Serbia, and Marijana Obradovic, Director’s Assistant in the Department for the Prevention of the Agency for fight against corruption, presented experiences from participation in the legislative process and critical review of the key problems and suggested solutions.
The working group for drafting the new law on Agency has a total of 17 people that are working on the document for a year so far. Although the model was proposed long ago, it still isn’t discussed nor adopted.
During the discussion, conflict of interests and unauthorized accumulation of functions were pointed out as the key risks of corruption in the performance of public functions. At the meeting of the coalition prEUgovor was also stated that it is necessary to regulate the treatment of a variety of ministerial advisers and directors because they have a hidden power in the decision-making process. One part of the discussion was marked by discussions on the process of drafting a law on lobbying, which claimed that the law was not transparent enough. On the fifth CHATvrtak is estimated that lobbying in Serbia functions although it is not legally regulated, which is making it difficult to fight against corruption.
Every last Thursday of the month, Coalition prEUgovor organizes CHATvrtak-informal dialogue in accordance with the Chatham House Rule. The aim of this activity is to improve the dialogue between the representatives of the state, civil society organizations, academic institutions, embassies, international organizations, media and other public professionals interested in the implementation of policies in the field of the rule of law (Chapter 23) and freedom, security and justice (Chapter 24).