Dear Ms/Mr,

Organization Transparency Serbia invites you to participate at the conference

                                     Fight against corruption in Serbia-
Citizens' experiences and proceeding of organs that receive their complaints

Which will take place on December 14th 2006, in Media Center, Milentija Popovića street 9 (Sava Centar)  from 9 till 13 o’clock with following agenda:

9.00-9.20       Registration

I session: Introduction

9.20- 9.30       prof. PhD. Vladimir Goati, Transparency Serbia
9.30- 9.40       Lance Clark, UN Resident Coordinator, UNDP Resident Representative
9.40-  9.50        Rodoljub Šabić, Commissioner for Information of Public Importance
9.50- 10.00       Jana Mittermaier, Transparency  International
10.00-10.10      Nemanja Nenadić, Transparency Serbia

 II session:  Promotion of Global Barometer of Corruption

10.10- 10.25    Srbobran Branković, TNS Medium Gallup
10.25-10.40     Nemanja Nenadić, Transparency Serbia
10.40-11.00    Coffee Break

III session: Presentation of organs that receive citizens complaints procedure and discussion

11.00- 13.00   ( Invited are representatives of: National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia- Committee for Citizens’ Complaints, Supreme Court of Serbia- Supervising Board, Anticorruption Council, Peoples’ Office of the President of the Republic, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Finances, Ministry of Health,  Tax Administration, Customs Administration, Republic Committee for Resolving Conflict of Interest, representatives of local municipality)

1. Cocktail

For any questions regarding organization of this conference as well as confirmation of participation you can contact Miss Bojana Medenica at the phone +381 11  303 38 27 or by e-mail: ts@transparentnost.org.yu

Citizens and corruption

Fight against corruption has its numerous ways. It is done through preventive, repressive and educative activities primarily of state organs, but also of other institutions. 

To make the fight against corruption successful, it is necessary to have good laws and to implement them consistently and in non-selective manner.

It is also necessary to discover cases of corruption and to sanction the violators. However, corruption is often successfully disguised. One of the raisons for that is the fact that all the participants in corruption act are doing felony. There is not enough encouragement for citizens to report corruption, which undermines possibility of the authority organs to discover criminal acts. Also, great mistrust of citizens in public institutions and into the system increases possibility for the violators to remain unpunished.

Second large obstacle that citizens face with is ignorance of the regulations and institutions which can help them resolve their problems. Situations where citizens suspect to corruption are very often but sometimes the real reason is unsatisfaction with agencies’ decision, or inefficiency and no professionalism in the work of such agencies. 

Transparency- Serbia, as non governmental organization dedicated to fight against corruption issues organized in the second half of this year work of Anticorruption Legal Advisory Center , which functions through free phone calls from fixed telephony to the number 0800 – 081 – 081 and e-mail savetovaliste@transparentnost.org.yu . After calling ALAC, and consideration of received information and documents legal consultants consider case, direct citizens to appropriate regulations and institutions, in certain cases help them in accomplishing their rights (e.g. in making demand for free access to information or in appeals).

Working on this project we noticed the need that the professional circles and wider public should hear to what organs citizens can turn to with their complaints, in which way those services deal with complaints of the citizens and how effectively they proceed. Because of that, on December 14th 2006. we organize conference Fight against corruption in Serbia – citizens’ experiences and proceeding of organs that receive their complaints. Representative of UNDP in Serbia Mr Lance Clark will speak at the opening, on the occasion of International Anticorruption Day, as well as Commissioner for Information of public Importance Mr Rodoljub Sabic, whose institution is one of the most active state organs that work on corruption prevention. Results of work of Anticorruption Legal Advisory Center and Transparency International and Gallup International research Global Corruption Barometer will be presented in the follow up by representatives of these organizations in Serbia.

Second session will totally be committed to experiences of state authorities and local authority organs that receive complaints of citizens, out of which some of them are connected to corruption. Representatives of each of the institution that answers our call should have the opportunity to present in 15 – 20 minutes mechanism for bringing complaints, way of their resolving, statistical data on the number of received and resolved complaints and most importantly observations concerning cases that have elements of corruption. It is our intention to make publication on the bases of those presentations, handbook which could, in future, serve to citizens faced with corruption, but also useful database and base of experiences for reformers that design the way bodies, that will in future fight corruption, work.

Therefore we invite you to take active participation in the work of this conference and help our joined efforts in fight against corruption.

Simultaneous translation of the conference will be provided for representatives of foreign countries and foreign organizations and guests.

Belgrade,

December 11th 2006.

Transparency Serbia

Program Director

Nemanja Nenadic