Some still think they are above law, ombudsman warns

BELGRADE There are still individuals and institutions in Serbia that think that they are above the law, Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic has warned. “The result is a fact that citizens and public administration organs often consider each other enemies,” he stressed at a presentation of a study on the implementation of ombudsman’s recommendations in Serbia. Some still think they are above law, ombudsman warns The study, that was authored by the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights and Belgrade Center for Human Rights, contains a series of recommendations to the ombudsman and administration organs that should improve implementation of the ombudsman’s recommendations and allow reform of practice based on individual cases of human rights violation. Jankovic thanked the authors of the study and pointed out that years of experience of ombudsman as an institution had shown that it was possible to change things in Serbia with recommendations, things that had been done in a wrong way for years and even things in which not even organs with powerful authorities had been unable to achieve results. “Even though we can say that a large percentage of our recommendations is done, today in Serbia we must not be proud if there is a single case in which the citizens’ rights are violated by an organ that gets money from the budget, i.e. from the citizens’ pockets,” the ombudsman noted. He said that unlike Serbia, Swedish and Dutch governments and parliaments had the highest authority and played the main role in guaranteeing the respect of human rights. “They function in a system in which the government makes sure that the administration organs need to listen to its instructions and orders and if the government misses the obligation, parliament will step in and ask the government why something is happening,” Jankovic stressed. Representatives of the organizations that authored the study Milan Antonijevic and Vesna Petrovic pointed out that their goal was that all independent institutions in Serbia function in a proper way. Petrovic explained that “we live in time where there is no authority and citizens do not even trust ministers or the president anymore and it is therefore necessary to have an institution that citizens will trust”. When it comes to state administration organs, the study has shown that a recommendation does not guarantee that the organ’s actions will change, that they did not implement court decisions, that organs were not familiar enough with principles of good administration and that they are not well informed about ombudsman’s role in the society. The ombudsman has also received some recommendations how to develop a better system of communication with administration organs, to insist on appointing a liaison officer for contact with ombudsman in public administration organs and how to educate employees about standards of good administration. Sasa Jankovic (Tanjug) Tanjug

Some still think they are above law, ombudsman warns

The study, that was authored by the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights and Belgrade Center for Human Rights, contains a series of recommendations to the ombudsman and administration organs that should improve implementation of the ombudsman’s recommendations and allow reform of practice based on individual cases of human rights violation.

Janković thanked the authors of the study and pointed out that years of experience of ombudsman as an institution had shown that it was possible to change things in Serbia with recommendations, things that had been done in a wrong way for years and even things in which not even organs with powerful authorities had been unable to achieve results.

“Even though we can say that a large percentage of our recommendations is done, today in Serbia we must not be proud if there is a single case in which the citizens’ rights are violated by an organ that gets money from the budget, i.e. from the citizens’ pockets,” the ombudsman noted.

He said that unlike Serbia, Swedish and Dutch governments and parliaments had the highest authority and played the main role in guaranteeing the respect of human rights.

“They function in a system in which the government makes sure that the administration organs need to listen to its instructions and orders and if the government misses the obligation, parliament will step in and ask the government why something is happening,” Janković stressed.

Representatives of the organizations that authored the study Milan Antonijević and Vesna Petrović pointed out that their goal was that all independent institutions in Serbia function in a proper way.

Petrović explained that “we live in time where there is no authority and citizens do not even trust ministers or the president anymore and it is therefore necessary to have an institution that citizens will trust”.

When it comes to state administration organs, the study has shown that a recommendation does not guarantee that the organ’s actions will change, that they did not implement court decisions, that organs were not familiar enough with principles of good administration and that they are not well informed about ombudsman’s role in the society.

The ombudsman has also received some recommendations how to develop a better system of communication with administration organs, to insist on appointing a liaison officer for contact with ombudsman in public administration organs and how to educate employees about standards of good administration.