Serbia has not implemented any of recommendations - CoE

Tanjug is reporting this on Tuesday, citing Council of Europe's anti-corruption body.

Serbia has not implemented in a satisfactory manner any of the thirteen recommendations provided by the Council of Europe's anti-corruption body GRECO (Group of States against Corruption) to the country in July 2015, states a new compliance report published on Thursday.

"GRECO specifically recommended that measures be taken to further improve the transparency of the parliamentary process, including through ensuring adequate timelines for submitting amendments and using the urgent procedure as an exception and not as a rule. A need to introduce transparency regulations on parliamentarians' contacts with lobbyists and other third parties, given the great risk of undue influence, was underlined," the report is quoted on the CoE website.

"Only limited progress has been achieved as regards transparency of the activity of the National Assembly, GRECO says in today's compliance report. More determined action is necessary in this regard, as well as on the adoption of a code of conduct and the introduction of rules for members of parliament on how they interact with lobbyists and other third parties," the GRECO report states.

Among other recommendations of 2015 were strengthening the independence and role of the High Judicial Council and the State Prosecutorial Council; amending the procedures for the recruitment and promotion of judges, court presidents and prosecutors, in particular by excluding the National Assembly from this process and ensuring merit-based recruitment; and continued reform of the system of appraisal of judges' and prosecutors' performance.

As far as judges are concerned, in the compliance report GRECO welcomes the...