Stiffer Penalties for Corrupt Officials 

Given that the initial preparations have been finished, it is only a matter of time before the long-awaited Anti-Corruption Agency starts taking form. The first step is for Parliament to elect the agency’s Committee, which may well happen at the assembly’s special meeting in January. All authorized bodies have submitted proposals for the agency’s leadership, and Parliament’s Judiciary and Administrative Committee has compiled a list of candidates that will be put to a vote.

The groundwork for the agency was laid on Oct. 23, 2008, when Parliament passed the Anti-Corruption Agency Act. The law, which was made in accordance with EU standards, is part of the state’s Anti-Corruption Strategy.

According to Nenad Konstantinovic, vice president of Parliament’s Administrative Committee, the passing of the bill will finally enable a serious offensive against corruption. Not only has it provided for the formation of an anti-corruption body independent of the government – i.e. the Anti-Corruption Agency – but its application is very important for promoting democracy and bringing the country closer to EU membership.

Konstantinovic believes that the Agency’s operation, independence, significance and success will largely depend on who is elected to its committee.

"That’s why it is important for the Agency’s Committee to be made up of people who have absolutely no party affiliation, people of integrity and dignity, who have proven themselves professionally, are known to the wider public, and who fulfill the legal requirements for membership in the Committee," said Konstantinovic.

Konstantinovic explained that before the Anti-Corruption Agency can begin operating at full capacity – which is planned for Jan. 1, 2010 – it is necessary to elect Committee members, chose the director, provide office space and hire personnel.

No Party Affiliation

The Anti-Corruption Agency’s Committee will have nine members with four-year terms, while the director’s seat will be filled for five years through a competition called by the Committee. Aside from certain work experience, a seat in the Committee also requires that the candidate not be a member of any political party.

According to Konstantinovic, the Agency’s director will be charged with resolving cases of alleged corruption. If an official is found guilty, the director will issue either a warning or a public recommendation that the official be removed from office – which is a significant change with respect to the earlier Law for Preventing Conflicts of Interest.

Recommendations for removal from office will be forwarded to the state body which elected, employed or named the official in question. That body will then have 60 days to decide on the matter and inform the Agency of its actions.

"The way things have been so far, if someone violated the law – i.e. if there was a conflict of public vs. private interests – the state’s Committee for Resolving Conflicts of Interest didn’t really have an appropriate response measure, and everything would amount to a warning at the most. Now there exists the most serious measure for any official: that the Agency initiate his removal from office," Konstantinovic said.

In case an official feels damaged by the ruling and penalty issued by the director of the Anti-Corruption Agency, he or she may appeal to the Agency’s Committee, which will re-examine the case.

Another novelty is that all state officials will be obliged to report their property to the Agency. This information will be published on the Agency’s web site, and any failure to report or giving of false information will be punishable by law.

False Reports Mean Jail Time

"Officials who withhold information on or falsely report their property will be punished with between six months and five years in prison. This is a serious penalty, and we hope it will compel all officials to provide accurate information and make the entire procedure transparent," Konstantinovic said.

Officials found guilty and sentenced to prison time will immediately lose their tenure and will be banned from holding a public office for ten years.

The new law for combating corruption also stipulates that from now on, the financial records of political parties will no longer be audited by Parliament’s Finance Committee but by the Anti-Corruption Agency.

"The government, the Democratic Party, and the ruling coalition are resolved to deal with corruption. The Agency will receive funds for operating in 2009, even though this year will be a financially difficult one. There are clear plans to find a building and create work conditions for the Agency, and to employ a sufficient number of people. Practically everyone who has been working for the Committee for Resolving Conflicts of Interest will be transferred to the Agency, but more people will be hired as well because the workload is really great," Konstantinovic explained.

Nominations for the Agency’s Committee include Sonja Liht – the president of Belgrade’s Fund for Political Excellence, who was recommended by President Boris Tadic; Tanja Miscevic – who, as the former head of the government’s Office for European Integration, was suggested as a candidate by the government; Professor Branko Lubarda – who was nominated by the Commissioner for Information of Public Significance and the Ombudsman; and Slobodan Beljanski, who was proposed by the Serbian Bar Association.

Furthermore, the Socio-Economic Council proposed Political Science Professor Cedomir Cupic, while the Supreme Court fielded two candidates: retired Supreme Court Judge Mileva Gajinov, and Jelisaveta Vasilic, a former judge of Belgrade’s High Economic Court, an attorney at law and a member of the Anti-Corruption Council.

The state Auditing Institution nominated Evica Petrovic, a professor of the Nis University School of Economics, while the journalists’ associations proposed Zlatko Minic, the deputy editor in chief of the Beta news agency.

Parliament’s Administrative Committee selected as its candidate Political Science Professor Zoran Stojiljkovic.