Transparency International
About Transparency International
What is Transparency International?
Transparency International, the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption, brings people together in a powerful worldwide coalition to end the devastating impact of corruption on men, women and children around the world.
TI’s mission is to create change towards a world free of corruption.
Transparency International challenges the inevitability of corruption, and offers hope to its victims. Since its founding in 1993, TI has played a lead role in improving the lives of millions around the world by building momentum for the anti-corruption movement. TI raises awareness and diminishes apathy and tolerance of corruption, and devises and implements practical actions to address it.
Transparency International is a global network including more than 90 locally established national chapters and chapters-in-formation. These bodies fight corruption in the national arena in a number of ways. They bring together relevant players from government, civil society, business and the media to promote transparency in elections, in public administration, in procurement and in business. TI’s global network of chapters and contacts also use advocacy campaigns to lobby governments to implement anti-corruption reforms.
Politically non-partisan, TI does not undertake investigations of alleged corruption or expose individual cases, but at times will work in coalition with organisations that do.
TI has the skills, tools, experience, expertise and broad participation to fight corruption on the ground, as well as through global and regional initiatives.
Now in its second decade, Transparency International is maturing, intensifying and diversifying its fight against corruption.
What is corruption?
Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It hurts everyone whose life, livelihood or happiness depends on the integrity of people in a position of authority.
Why does fighting corruption matter?
Corruption hurts everyone, and it harms the poor the most. Sometimes its devastating impact is obvious:
- A father who must do without shoes because his meagre wages are used to pay a bribe to get his child into a supposedly free school.
- The unsuspecting sick person who buys useless counterfeit drugs, putting their health in grave danger.
- A small shop owner whose weekly bribe to the local inspector cuts severely into his modest earnings.
- The family trapped for generations in poverty because a corrupt and autocratic leadership has systematically siphoned off a nation’s riches.
Other times corruption’s impact is less visible:
- The prosperous multinational corporation that secured a contract by buying an unfair advantage in a competitive market through illegal kickbacks to corrupt government officials, at the expense of the honest companies who didn’t.
- Post-disaster donations provided by compassionate people, directly or through their governments, that never reach the victims, callously diverted instead into the bank accounts of criminals.
- The faulty buildings, built to lower safety standards because a bribe passed under the table in the construction process that collapse in an earthquake or hurricane.
Corruption has dire global consequences, trapping millions in poverty and misery and breeding social, economic and political unrest.
Corruption is both a cause of poverty, and a barrier to overcoming it. It is one of the most serious obstacles to reducing poverty.
Corruption denies poor people the basic means of survival, forcing them to spend more of their income on bribes. Human rights are denied where corruption is rife, because a fair trial comes with a hefty price tag where courts are corrupted.
Corruption undermines democracy and the rule of law.
Corruption distorts national and international trade.
Corruption jeopardises sound governance and ethics in the private sector.
Corruption threatens domestic and international security and the sustainability of natural resources.
Those with less power are particularly disadvantaged in corrupt systems, which typically reinforce gender discrimination.
Corruption compounds political exclusion: if votes can be bought, there is little incentive to change the system that sustains poverty.
The conclusion - Corruption hurts everyone.
News
EPS illegally withholds information
EPS AD (Electric Power Company of Serbia), joint stock company unlawfully withholds essential information from the public about its work and the possible disposing of the assets of great value. Transparency Serbia, since 26 May 2023, has been trying to verify with the Electric Power Company of Serbia the allegations…
... detaljnije ...On amendments to the Law on Prevention of Corruption
The draft amendments to the Law on the Prevention of Corruption[1], presented for public discussion, respond to the GRECO's recommendations for Serbia[2] to a limited extent. On the other hand, it does not contain measures to reduce the scope of the "official campaign" and to increase the capacity of control…
... detaljnije ...The new draft law on the management of state-owned enterprises still needs amendments
The new proposal of the Law on the Management of Public Enterprises Owned by the Republic of Serbia is better than the previously withdrawn one. Still, it also needs to be amended, primarily in the area related to preventing misuse of public resources during the election campaign, transitional provisions and…
... detaljnije ...Corrupt risks of free conversion not taken into account
Amendments to the Law on Planning and Construction carry a high corruption risk because the state is giving up potential public revenues in favour of individual companies and, at the same time, threatens legal certainty and equality before the law. The amendments provide for the free conversion of the "right of…
... detaljnije ...What needs to be fixed in the proposal of the law on the management of state enterprises
Transparency Serbia sent the Government of Serbia, the Ministry of Economy and the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption a detailed analysis of corruption risks and other shortcomings in the draft law on managing business companies owned by the Republic of Serbia (SOE). The proposal for a law on companies owned…
... detaljnije ...Directors of SOE outside the reach of anti-corruption regulations
The directors of the largest state-owned companies (SOE), which manage assets worth tens of billions of euros, will not have the obligations, restrictions or control provided for public officials in the Law on Prevention of Corruption if the deputies adopt the proposed Law on the Management of Companies Owned by…
... detaljnije ...One of the laws crumbling the public procurement system repealed
The repeal of the law on line infrastructure[1], which opened up a huge space for discretionary decision-making and had the potential for corruption, is good news after years of crumbling public procurement systems. However, it is essential to emphasize that by deleting this law, only one of the channels for…
... detaljnije ...Change the selection method for independent bodies' managers
The legal rules leave too much room for political parties to influence the election of heads of independent bodies, Transparency Serbia emphasises. Although the majority of MPs decide the election - which is inevitable - the parties also have the sole or decisive say in the candidacy phase. At today's session…
... detaljnije ...Harmful and unexplained amendments to the Statute of ”JP Elektroprivreda Srbije”
Amendments to the articles of founding act and the Statute of ”JP Elektroprivreda Srbije” will have very harmful consequences on the implementation of anti-corruption laws in the largest Serbian public company, Transparency Serbia warns. In addition, the key reasons for changes are not explained and the legal basis is disputed. The…
... detaljnije ...Prosecutor's Office should increase the transparency of its work and investigate all abuses in EPS
The Higher Public Prosecutor's Office (HPPO) in Belgrade, in response to a request for access to information sent by Transparency Serbia, confirmed[1] that there is no evidence that prosecutor Bojana Savović requested a transfer from the Special Department for the Fight against Corruption. At the same time, HPPO did not submit…
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On what bases will the deputies elect the director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption
Transparency Serbia sent the Parliament of Serbia an initiative to invite candidates for the director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption to the session The law does not provide for the obligation to represent candidates on parliamentary committees or at the plenum. Deputies were provided only job resumes of…
... detaljnije ...Amendments to improve judicial laws
Transparency Serbia calls on the National Assembly to reduce the corruption risks in the set of judicial laws by adopting the amendments submitted by the parliamentarians on the proposal of the TS. Transparency Serbia has submitted proposals for specific amendments to all parliamentary groups in the Assembly, which aim to improve…
... detaljnije ...Presentation of CPI 2022: Serbia fell below the hundredth place on the TI Corruption Perceptions Index world list
Serbia, with the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of 36 fell by five places on the list - to the 101st position in the most significant global ranking of countries according to the perception of corruption in the public sector – CPI 2022. In the previous two years, Serbia had a CPI…
... detaljnije ...The appointment of the Agency's director is delayed; on what basis will MPs decide?
The programs of the three candidates for the director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, among whom the National Assembly will choose, do not provide clear answers to all essential questions about the future work of this body. The procedure envisaged by the law does not imply the…
... detaljnije ...Government should be obliged to solve problems in the field of the fight against corruption and access to information
Transparency Serbia calls upon the Committee for Justice, State Administration and Local Self-Government to determine conclusions at today's session (Monday, 26.12.2022, from 2:30 p.m.) that would oblige the Government of Serbia to solve the problems pointed out in the annual reports of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and…
... detaljnije ...The Coalition expresses its concern about the growing non-transparency of institutions
On the occasion of marking the International Day of Access to Information and the Day of the Public's Right to Know, 28 September, the Coalition for Freedom of Access to Information of Public Importance states that the authorities in Serbia are increasingly non-transparent in their work. The right to access information…
... detaljnije ...A decade of violations of the Law on Public Enterprises
The Law on Public Enterprises (PE), adopted precisely ten years ago, did not bring the promised professionalisation of management but became a symbol of open mockery of the rule of Law. Out of 34 companies owned by the Republic of Serbia, obliged by the Law to elect directors in a competition…
... detaljnije ...Fight against transparency and competition instead of the fight against corruption
The International Anti-Corruption Day, December 9, found Serbia in stagnation or regression in almost all areas of importance for the fight against corruption, while among the work priorities of the new Government, there is no mention of anti-corruption plans. One could even say that the fight against transparency and competition, the…
... detaljnije ...The budget shows the consequences of the disastrous EPS management
Serbia's budget for 2023 is insufficiently transparent in the part that refers to the costs incurred due to the poor performance of public companies, primarily the Electric Power Company of Serbia (EPS), and citizens are still without the opportunity to influence priority investments. In its assessment of the budget proposal, the…
... detaljnije ...Law on ministries – explanation without explanation
With this year's amendments to the Law on Ministries, the bad tradition was not betrayed: the organisation of the executive power in Serbia is changed without an explanation of how it will affect the performance of the state administration. Understandably, this encourages speculation that the real reason for those changes…
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The Government illegally appointed acting officials, and the court has not been resolving the lawsuit for declaration of nullity
More than three-quarters of the decisions of the Government of Serbia in 2020 on the appointment of acting officials in the state administration were illegal. In 30% of cases, the Government violated not only the Law on Civil Servants provisions but also the laws of physics, determining that officials would…
... detaljnije ...ODIHR Final Report on the elections in Serbia - Serious problems related to the abuse of public resources and campaign…
Transparency Serbia indicates that the ODIHR Observation Mission, in its Final Report on the April elections, confirmed the TS findings and warnings during the last procedure of amending the electoral legislation and monitoring the election campaign. The final report, published only in English on the ODIHR website, contains comprehensive findings…
... detaljnije ...Illogical and flawed reports on election campaign expenses
More than two billion dinars were spent for the presidential and parliamentary elections campaign, of and only 6.5% came from contributions and donations. Transparency Serbia analyses individual financial submitted reports and noticed numerous illogicalities and deficiencies. More than one billion dinars, i.e. approximately half of the total costs of the campaign…
... detaljnije ...Decision on "national frequencies" without evaluation of mandatory criteria
The decision of the REM Council on the allocation of "national frequencies"[1] is disputed due to the non-application of one of the mandatory legal criteria - "respect for regulations and ethical media standards", but also because of how the Law on Electronic Media and the REM Rulebook govern the decision-making…
... detaljnije ...How will the budget money be distributed for the regular work of the parties, and what do the reports on…
The announcement of the results of the parliamentary elections, three months after they were completed in the vast majority of polling stations, will significantly change the parties' financial position. In the first half of 2022, about 691 million dinars from the Serbian budget were already distributed to parties based on…
... detaljnije ...Financing of the campaign for the presidential elections
First Analysis Reports Official reports on the financing of the campaign for the presidential elections confirm the findings of the apparent dominance of the candidates of the ruling party in relation to all others, which are a consequence of the legal rules on the distribution of funds from the budget for campaign…
... detaljnije ...Fifth Round of GRECO Evaluation: Important recommendations and chance to fulfil them this time
Transparency Serbia assesses that the fifth round of the GRECO evaluation contains several significant recommendations, the fulfilment of which could fundamentally improve the legal framework for the fight against corruption. At the same time, the new parliamentary convocation and the new Government of Serbia will have the opportunity to approach…
... detaljnije ...Unjustified delay in the preparation of the law
Transparency Serbia pointed out today that the ministries have not organized a public debate on any draft law since February. However, there are already significant delays in fulfilling obligations from strategic documents, including the Action Plan for Chapter 23 and the Media Strategy. The "technical government" can therefore only be seen…
... detaljnije ...Budget transparency in Serbia at the level of the global average
Serbia has made moderate progress and is in 59th place out of 120 countries in the international Open Budget Index (OBI) survey with 46 points out of a possible 100, which ranks it among countries with "limited budget transparency". An improvement of six points compared to the previous survey (from 2019)…
... detaljnije ...LTI 2022: Novi Pazar, Sombor and Sokobanja – Transparency Leaders
The most transparent local governments in 2022 are Novi Pazar, Sombor and Sokobanja, according to this year's survey of the Local Transparency Index (LTI 2022), which Transparency Serbia presented at today's press conference. The average transparency index of cities and municipalities in Serbia in 2022 is 49 points - one point…
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