Chapter 7 – Serbia
Chapter 7 – Serbia

Author(s): Predrag Petrović, Gorana Odanović, Đorđe Popović, Marko Savković, Jelena Radoman
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Civil Society, Government/Political systems, Security and defense
Published by: BCBP Beogradski centar za bezbednosnu politiku
Keywords: Serbia; Security Sector Reform; Democratic Accountability; Oversight Mechanisms; Human Rights Compliance; Financial Transparency
Summary/Abstract: The security sector in a post authoritarian and post conflict country, such as Serbia, can be one of the greatest obstacles to the consolidation of democracy. The main question of this chapter, therefore, is what are the achievements and weaknesses of Serbian security sector accountability and what repercussions does this have on democracy? In this chapter, we will focus on two components of accountability: legal compliance and respect for human rights, and transparency of resource allocation and spending. We will focus especially on accountability of security sector institutions to the government ministry under whose authority it is placed (vertical accountability) and also to other branches of government or institutions (horizontal accountability). These two aspects were chosen because our research indicates implementation in these areas is deficient, but also because respect for human rights and financial accountability are important issues for good public governance. Further consideration is given to patterns of democratic accountability in the security sector, including: oversight mechanisms, their development and functioning, their performance and level of accountability, as well as achievements and weaknesses.

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