almanac on security sector oversight in the Western Balkans

Serbia
ing their effectiveness. 169 As long as state security actors might perceive independent
institutions as “intruders” which they ought to tolerate there is danger that those
actors would attempt to avoid their mechanisms of control. This, coupled with the
inconsistent government support for to ensure follow-up of the independent institution’s
recommendations, 170 might seriously undermine the effects of the independent
institutions’ work.
3.3.6. Attempts to bypass independent institutions
There are two major weaknesses in the system governing independent institutions’
oversight of the security sector in Serbia. First, there are a number of potential loopholes
in transparency related legislation. The absence of norms and bylaws which
should accompany the Law on Data Confidentiality (2009) is one of them. Related to
personal data protection, the Law on Personal Data Protection (2008) and constitutional
norms are not enough for a thorough and transparent management of data
collecting processes. This will remain a problem as long as there are no laws regulating
the usage of video cameras in public spaces, the management of biometric data and
activities of private security and detective agencies, and the management of data collected
via these tools and by these actors. In addition, Serbia has no legal protection
of whistleblowers, which has previously been highlighted as a shortcoming of the Law
on Free Access to Information of Public Importance.
There is also a worrying trend of suppressing independent institutions’ authorities and
limiting their insights into the security sector. There have been regular attempts to
bypass authorities of the independent oversight institutions when it came to drafting
new legislation. This was evident during the adoption of the Law on Electronic Communication
in June 2010 when only after amendments by the Ombudsperson to the
draft law the Commissioner gained the right to have access to electronically-collected
data on citizens. The same intention to limit independent institutions’ access could
be observed during the adoption of the Law on Data Confidentiality. More worrying
was the proposal by the Ministry of Justice to suppress provisions on the oversight
authorities of independent state institutions by limiting their right to have access to
secret data, which provoked strong criticism from the independent institutions and
civil society. 171
4 . Accountability in budgetary spending
Serbia’s Law on Budget System (2009) established three mechanisms of budgetary control:
the first being financial management (and control); the second, internal audit;
169 Interviews with the BIA, Military-Intelligence and Military-Security Agency, June 2010-April 2011.
170 Report on the conduct of the Law on free access to information of public importance and personal
data protection for 2009, p.20.
171 “Expert discussion on the Draft Law on Data Confidentiality” http://www.ccmr-bg.org/Novo/3479/
Strucna+rasprava+o+Predlogu+zakona+o+tajnosti+podataka.shtml, 25 August, 2009.
197
Almanac on Security Sector Oversight in the Western Balkans