Press release

 

Violation of citizens' civil rights

 

Transparency Serbia emphasizes that fight against corruption in Serbia can not be efficient enough without active engagement of citizens, in discovering and processing of specific cases of corruption, and in system reform. However, executive and legislative authorities often send to citizens demoralizing signals, which compromise fight against corruption.

 

Latest example of such proceeding is case of „misplaced signatures“and „misplaced prepositions of the Law“. More than 72 thousand of citizens signed support for preposition of amendments to the Law on Free Access to Information and preposition of Law on Classification of Information, which are undoubtably important tools for fight against corruption. After submitting of initiative to National Assembly (December 7th 2007), according to Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly, president of National Assembly was obliged to deliver those hand scripts to all deputies and to the Government, and prepositions should have been inserted in the agenda of regular autumn sitting in 2008. Instead, last 15 months was lost because of misunderstanding between National Assembly and Ministry of Interior. We wouldn't even be informed about that if it wasn't for the intervention of Ombudsman.

 

Concrete example could be resolved if the Parliament discusses these prepositions and adopts them at the beginning of spring sitting, and President of the National Assembly should on that occasion, in accordance with article 140 of Rules of Procedure, explain to deputies reasons for overstepping of deadlines. But, essential problem, citizens' mistrust in institutions, could be overcame only if appropriate conclusion is collected from this example, if authority organs, by the threat of sanctions, should be obliged to reconsider each elaborated initiative or preposition from the citizens in legal deadline.

 

Transparency – Serbia

 

Belgrade , 26 February 2009