European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos assessed today that the vote in the Serbian National Assembly on laws that limit the independence of the judiciary represents a serious step backwards on Serbia’s European path.
“At a time of major progress in enlargement, when Montenegro and Albania are moving ahead quickly, Serbia risks heading in the opposite direction. That is not what we want,” Kos wrote on the social network X.
Today, the Serbian National Assembly adopted proposals for amendments to judicial laws submitted by Serbian Progressive Party MP Uglješa Mrdić.
The Assembly adopted the proposal for the Law on the Seats and Territorial Jurisdiction of Courts and Public Prosecutor’s Offices, amendments to the Law on the High Prosecutorial Council, amendments and supplements to the Law on the Organisation and Jurisdiction of State Authorities for Combating High-Tech Crime, amendments and supplements to the Law on the Public Prosecutor’s Office, as well as amendments relating to judges.
Prosecutor Bojana Savović told Danas that the adoption of such important legislative amendments under an urgent procedure, without a public debate, something repeatedly criticised by the European Commission, demonstrates the authorities’ position that they are absolutely uninterested in the rule of law or in the opinion of the professional public.
“The proposed laws are a step backwards from strengthening the independence of public prosecutors and show a tendency towards the centralisation of influence, as the position of court presidents and chief public prosecutors is once again being strengthened,” Savović said.
She sees a particular problem in the amendments to the jurisdiction of the Prosecutor’s Office for High-Tech Crime.
“The tendency to place the Department for High-Tech Crime, which has jurisdiction over the entire territory of the country, under even stronger control of the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, Nenad Stefanović, shows the authorities’ desire to completely abolish freedom of opinion and justified criticism of all social actors that takes place on social networks,” the prosecutor stated.
The set of judicial laws proposed by Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) MP Uglješa Mrdić has raised concerns. The Danas daily warned about the possible consequences these laws could have not only for the judiciary in Serbia, but also for the functioning of the social and political system, as early as two weeks ago, when they were first placed on the parliamentary agenda.
Mrdić, who is the president of the parliamentary committee on the judiciary, has repeatedly stated publicly that the motive behind his proposed laws is that certain parts of the prosecution service have “gone rogue from the state”, singling out Supreme Public Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac and Chief Public Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime, Mladen Nenadić.
(Danas, 28.01.2026)
https://www.danas.rs/vesti/politika/kos-pravosudni-zakoni-evropski-put/