Serbia: Building Transparency in Government Institutions

Welcome! Добродошли (doh/bro DOH/shlee)!

A delegation from Serbia is coming to Jacksonville to explore the city’s methods of assuring transparency in government institutions. Currently, 75% of judges and prosecutors in Serbia feel that the process of appointing judicial officials is not transparent, even with the substantial amount of money that has been invested in judicial reform projects(1). These judges are pushing for monthly norms as a basis for reviewing their work, along with other methods for approving transparency and efficiency. Representatives are coming to the United States to seek methods to expose corruption in government in order to bring about change. According to Transparency International, “the fight against corruption has been a priority on the political agenda in Serbia since 2002” and Serbia’s efforts in this fight should be focused on “areas of elections, party financing, immunities, codes of conduct, conflicts of interest, asset declaration and lobbying”(2). In Jacksonville, efforts have been directed toward forming a Transparency Task Force, whose job would be to monitor third-party bills and to assure that the residents of Jacksonville maintain involvement in city policy. Jacksonville also is currently pushing to pass a bill that will improve data collection within the criminal justice system. This bill will make Florida the most transparent cities in the U.S.(3)

Serbia will explore these efforts and others made by the city council and residents of Jacksonville to increase transparency in government institutions.

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1. https://www.euractiv.com/section/enlargement/news/serbia-judges-want-more-transparency-independence-higher-pay/https://knowledgehub.transparency.org/helpdesk/serbia-overview-of-political-corruption

2. http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20180312/bill-will-make-florida-most-transparent-state-in-nation