MPs adopt conclusions on work of independent bodies

MPs adopt conclusions on work of independent bodies

The lawmakers do not vote on the reports themselves, but rather on the recommendations and conclusions based on them.

The meeting started on Wednesday with a discussion on the reports by Commissioner for Protection of Equality Nevena Petrušić, Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection Rodoljub Šabić and Protector of Citizens Saša Janković.

The debate was interrupted due to an oversight by the chair of the meeting, Deputy Parliament Speaker Vladimir Marinković, who did not allow representatives of the independent bodies to address the lawmakers.

The meeting was resumed this morning, and speaking on behalf of the parliament and her own behalf, Parliament Speaker Maja Gojković apologized to the commissioners and citizens for yesterday's oversight.

Marinković told Tanjug that his failure to allow the representatives of independent bodies speak had been a mistake arising from a misunderstanding.

Presenting his 2013 report, the Ombudsman said yesterday that some citizens' civil rights had been seriously violated, but despite the protector of citizens giving a warning about the situation, nothing had been done to correct that.

Commissioner Šabić said that citizens were now able to obtain data from authorities at all levels, which would have been unthinkable a few years before, but the situation regarding personal data protection was causing grave concern.

Equality Protection Commissioner NevenaPetrušić said that steps forward had been made in the protection against discrimination, but the situation there was still not satisfactory, and much work was still ahead of the country when it came to building a tolerant society.

Anti-Corruption Agency Director Tatjana Babić said that in 2013, the Agency had been nearly 10 times more active than before in the sphere of control of property and incomes of public officials, adding that a motion to enact a new law on the Agency would be filed by the end of June.

DRI President Radoslav Sretenović told MPs that the institution planned to increase the number of entities subject to audit and to broaden its scope and it required more staff to be done efficiently.