almanac on security sector oversight in the Western Balkans

1 . Introduction
Serbia
The security sector in a post authoritarian and post conflict country, such as Serbia, can
be one of the greatest obstacles to the consolidation of democracy. The main question
of this chapter, therefore, is what are the achievements and weaknesses of Serbian
security sector accountability and what repercussions does this have on democracy? In
this chapter, we will focus on two components of accountability: legal compliance and
respect for human rights, and transparency of resource allocation and spending. We
will focus especially on accountability of security sector institutions to the government
ministry under whose authority it is placed (vertical accountability) and also to other
branches of government or institutions (horizontal accountability). These two aspects
were chosen because our research indicates implementation in these areas is deficient,
but also because respect for human rights and financial accountability are important
issues for good public governance. Further consideration is given to patterns of democratic
accountability in the security sector, including: oversight mechanisms, their development
and functioning, their performance and level of accountability, as well as
achievements and weaknesses.
One of the key findings of this research is that Serbia has completed the first generation
of security sector reform: a legal framework regulating the sector is mostly
completed 113 ; there are institutions for oversight and control of the sector is under
democratic civilian control. In order to complete the next phase and enter the second
generation of reform, the legal framework must be fully implemented and adhered
to by all security sector actors 114 .
2 . Background
When Serbia regained its statehood in 2006 115 all necessary preconditions for completion
of the legal framework regulating its security sector were fulfilled. At that
time, a new constitution was adopted which set the basis for legal regulation of the
competencies, missions and tasks of the Serbian security sector institutions, as well as
establishment of a clear and democratic chain of command over these institutions.
The Serbian “National Security Strategy” and a national defence strategy were adopted
after the relevant laws: Law on Defence (2007) and Law on the Serbian Armed
Forces (2007), as well as the Law on Security Information Agency (2002) and the Law
on Police (2005) which were adopted before the constitution. These laws should be
the basic legislation on Serbian security and defence but were quite vague and inco-
113 Notably absent is legislation regulating activities of private security companies.
114 More on security sector reform generations in: Edmunds, Timothy, 2004, “Security Sector Reform:
Concepts and Implementation” in: Flury, Phillip and Hadžić, Miroslav (edt.) Sourcebook on Security Sector
Reform. DCAF, CCMR. Geneva, Belgrade, pp. 50-53.
115 The Federal Republic Yugoslavia existed until 2003, when the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro
was created. In the May 2006 referendum, Montenegro declared independence, ending the federal
arrangement of two states.
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Almanac on Security Sector Oversight in the Western Balkans