Fight against corruption - society's continuous mission

BELGRADE - The whole of society needs to be involved in the fight against corruption, but the government is the one that has to take responsibility, participants in a conference on the fight against corruption in Serbia, held in Belgrade on International Anti-Corruption Day, December 9.

Speaking at the conference, held ahead of the adoption of a new law on the Anti-Corruption Agency, Tatjana Babic, director of the Agency, said that while the fight against corruption needed the whole of society to be involved, the government was the one that had to take responsibility.

She said that only joint and coordinated efforts could bring about the goal, a society in which corruption would be incidental instead of customary behavior, the opposite of what the situation was like in Serbia right now.

Babic said that cooperation should primarily be seen in legal aid, involving exchanging experiences and exploring the practices of various bodies.

"While conducting our activities, we need to be of service to each other, and faster than is prescribed by law," said Babic.

Dragomir Milojevic, president of the Supreme Court of Cassation, said that there was almost no form of organized society that had not experienced negative effects of corruption and in that sense, Serbia was no exception.

He pointed to high level of corruption in the judiciary, which he believes political influences, bad and non-transparent human resources policies and lengthy trials were to blame the most for.

"It is of crucial importance to stabilize our system and establish the rule of law, and to achieve this we need everybody to be involved in this job," said Milivojevic.

Olgica Batic, president of the Global Organization of...