Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Becomes a Public Official
Parliament widened the definition of public officials to include the chief of staff to the prime minister and deputy prime minister, as the Law on Lobbying takes effect on September 8.
The National Assembly of Serbia passed amendments to the Law on the Prevention of Corruption and the Law on Lobbying on August 31, at its Tenth Extraordinary Session. The changes to the anti-corruption law, proposed by lawmaker Miroslav Petrasinovic, were backed by 138 deputies, with none voting against or abstaining. Amendments to four articles of the law, put forward by the Committee on Judiciary, State Administration and Local Self-Government, were also adopted.
The two laws do not take effect on the same day. The changes to the Law on the Prevention of Corruption are already in force, since Parliament determined there were sufficiently justified grounds for the rules to apply earlier than the usual eight days after publication. The amended Law on Lobbying, by contrast, takes effect only on September 8.
Who Now Counts as a Public Official?
The amendments broaden the circle of people classified as public officials. Alongside those already appointed to positions in state bodies, that status now also extends to the deputy director of the Anti-Corruption Agency, the chief of staff to the prime minister, the chief of staff to the deputy prime minister, advisers to the prime minister and deputy prime minister, and special advisers to ministers. Directors and members of supervisory or executive boards at public companies founded by Serbia, an autonomous province, or a local self-government unit are also now considered public officials.
The law also sets a deadline for reporting a suspected conflict of interest: an official who suspects such a conflict while performing a public function must notify their superior and the Anti-Corruption Agency within five days of identifying the possible conflict. The agency must then respond within 15 days.
Campaign Restrictions Already in Effect
The provisions specifically addressing election campaigns sit in Article 50 and the new Article 50a of the Law on the Prevention of Corruption, and they are already in force, not waiting for September 8. Officials must keep separate social media accounts, one as a public official and another as a member of a political party. During an election campaign, they may not be announced at party rallies by the public office they hold, and if that happens anyway, they must immediately stop the announcement and correct whoever made it. From the moment elections are called, using public resources to print promotional material, run training, conduct research, or otherwise promote a political idea is also banned. Violating these rules carries a fine.
The Law on Lobbying, whose amendments take effect on September 8, is not presented in the explanatory note Parliament adopted as carrying these campaign restrictions, those remain under the Law on the Prevention of Corruption.
The explanatory notes to both laws state the reform was carried out to align with recommendations from the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). According to the notes, this continues a years-long process of aligning Serbia’s election and anti-corruption legislation with European standards.
How the Anti-Corruption Agency will apply the new deadlines and the expanded circle of officials in practice is an open question, given that the changes arrive just ahead of the start of the election campaign.
