Soon the new Law on Inspection Supervision: Prevention instead of punishment and better working conditions of inspectors as the key to success
Less than 3,000 republican inspectors work in Serbia today, that is, one inspector per 1,200 inhabitants. As many as 44% of inspection inspections are carried out on an extraordinary basis, that is, 65% of inspections are carried out without an issued order - while preventive action is present in only about 1% of cases. That is why the draft amendments to the Law on Inspection Supervision are aimed at strengthening the preventive role of inspections and the e-Inspector system, increasing the number of inspectors and improving their working conditions, as key mechanisms for suppressing the gray economy and continuing the digitalization of inspection supervision. This was said at a meeting of representatives of the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government and members of NALED.
- Our role is to improve inspection supervision through amendments to this system law, for which we need help and coordination with the economy - said Mila Stanković, Assistant Minister of State Administration and Local Self-Government.
More than five years ago, the relevant ministry also carried out a Functional Analysis of the Republic's Inspections with a capacity analysis, as well as an Action Plan for the employment of inspectors for the period 2019-2021.
- In order to provide assistance to inspections and to solve the problem of missing resources and increase the efficiency of inspection supervision, it is necessary to update the analyzes we have and adopt a new action plan - stated Đorđe Đoković, Assistant Minister of State Administration and Local Self-Government.
The current Law on Inspection Supervision was adopted 10 years ago, and its revision is needed in accordance with current needs, pointed out Jelena Mićić, leading adviser for competitiveness in NALED.
As part of the project Support for Public Administration Reform in the EU Accession Process, which is implemented by NALED and financed by GIZ, an ex-post and ex-ante analysis of the effects of the Law on Inspection Supervision has been prepared and the drafting of amendments to the Law on Inspection Supervision is underway, which will be discussed and refined within the framework of the Working Group, which will be formed by the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government.
Milan Stefanović, advisor for regulations and inspections at NALED, referred to the analysis of effects on key topics, such as risk assessment and planning of inspection work, coordination of inspections and prevention and suppression of the gray economy.
- Since classic controls and corrective-repressive measures are represented in 98% of cases, it is necessary to focus more on the preventive action of inspections. To this end, it is necessary to determine the Guidelines on the preventive action of inspections, which would include the standardization of procedures, models of acts and explanations, as well as introducing forms of preventive action into the inspectors' annual work goals - explained Stefanović.
Due to the difficulty and demands of the work itself, low salary and frequent exposure to various types of pressure, the legal position of the inspector was assessed as unfavorable. It is necessary to take measures to popularize the job of inspector, with which representatives of the economy agree, Stefanović stated.
As many as 82% of inspectors believe that it is necessary to classify the position of inspector into special, inspection positions, according to a survey by NALED and the Ministry of State Administration. Among the key recommendations are higher salaries and better legal protection for inspectors. Digitization of work through eInspektor further improved the efficiency and transparency of supervision.
One of the main novelties of the Draft Law is the centralized reception within the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government and the prior evaluation of the regularity and validity of petitions from the jurisdiction of the republic's inspections, giving a non-binding opinion with the petition forwarded to the inspection, and providing information on the jurisdiction of the inspection. It is recommended that the records of petitions and petitioners and the obligation to protect the identity of the petitioner be regulated by law.
The cooperation of the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government, NALED and the economy is of great importance for the preparation of the Draft Law and its implementation.
