The key anti-bribery and corruption legislation in the Republic of Serbia are:

1. Criminal Law ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia", no. 85/2005, 88/2005-amended, 107/2005-amended, 72/2009, 111/2009, 121/2012, 104/2013, 108/2014, 94/2016 and 35/2019), that defines the main criminal offenses against official duty, including bribery (soliciting and accepting bribe, giving bribe), influence peddling, fraud in service, office abuse, embezzlement, unlawful collection and payment, violation of law by a judge, public prosecutor or his deputy;
2. Law on Organization and Jurisdiction of State Authorities against Organized Crime, Terrorism and Corruption ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia", no. 94/2016 and 87/2018-other law);
3. Law on Prevention of Corruption ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia", no. 35/2019, 88/2019, 11/2021 – authentically interpretation and 94/2021);
4. Law on Lobbying ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia", no. 87/2018 and 86/2019 – other law);
5. Law on financing political activities (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, no. 43/2011, 123/2014 and 88/2019);
6. Law on Health Security ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia", no. 25/2019);
7. Law on confirmation of Criminal Law Convention on Corruption ("Official Gazette of SRJ-International treaties", no. 2/2002, "Official Gazette of SCG-International treaties", br. 18/2005);
8. Law on confirmation of Additional Protocol to Criminal Law Convention on Corruption ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia-International treaties", no. 102/2007);
9. Law on confirmation of Civil Law Convention on Corruption ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia-International treaties", no. 102/2007); and
10. Law on ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption ("Official Gazette of SCG-International treaties", no. 12/2005).

1. Law on Prevention of Corruption

In the Republic of Serbia, until 2019, the Law on the Anti-Corruption Agency regulated the competence of the Anti-Corruption Agency, rules in regard to prevention of conflict of interest in conducting public office and property disclosure reports of persons holding public office. In 2019, a completely new law was adopted by the Serbian Nacional Assembly - Law on Prevention of Corruption, regulating the same and similar subject as the Law on the Anti-Corruption Agency but also introducing some novelties such as the power of the Anti-Corruption Agency to request from the state body to provide all necessary data and information in order to determine whether the corruption occurs, new thresholds applicable for public officers regarding reporting of gifts, etc. 

2. Amendments to the Criminal Law

The Criminal Law has been amended in 2016 and 2019 by which amendments a whole chapter “Offences Against Economic Interest” was rearranged and several new criminal offenses in relation to the corruption were introduced, such as Public Procurement Abuse, Accepting Bribes in Conducting Business Activity and Bribery (Offering and Giving Bribe) in Conducting Business Activity. Those criminal offenses are presented below in more detail.

3. Law on Lobbying

Until the end of 2018, the Republic of Serbia did not regulate lobbying. By adoption of the Law on Lobbying, and its amendment in 2019 lobbying i.e. influencing the state authority on behalf of private individuals or companies, has been legally regulated in order to make a clear distinction between corruption and other permissible influence on the state authorities. 

Lobbying is defined as an activity through which persuasion is directed at authorities of the Republic of Serbia, an autonomous province or a local government unit, bodies of public agencies, institutions and regulatory bodies founded by the Republic of Serbia, autonomous province, local government unit, in the process of adoption of laws, other regulations and general acts that fall under the jurisdiction of these authorities, for the purpose of promoting the interests of the Lobbying Client, in accordance with the law. The Law on Lobbying, among others, governs the activity of lobbying, registration of the lobbyist with the Anti-Corruption Agency and the reporting requirements of the lobbyist to the Anti-Corruption Agency.

4. Law on Health Security

The new Law on Health Security was adopted in 2019 and introduced provisions regulating permissible gifts to medical staff. 

Medical staff, in connection to their work, may receive presents whose individual value does not exceed 5 percent of the average salary in the Republic of Serbia and if more than one present is received, cumulative values of such presents shall not exceed the average salary in the Republic of Serbia decreased for taxes. 

Presents may not be money and securities, only material goods. According to the law, giving and receiving such presents is legally allowed and does not constitute corruption. If a medical worker is uncertain whether presents constitute corruption, he/she is obliged to report such a present to the ethical committee of the hospital in which he/she is engaged.

5. Law on Financing Political Activities

The Law on financing political activities envisages rules how political parties may finance their activities as well as activities for an election campaign. In this regard, it is strictly stipulated who may make monetary contributions to the political parties, prohibition for political parties to be financed from foreign entities, maximum limit of a monetary contribution of natural persons and companies are introduced, etc.

Related to the criminally punishable behavior, this law stipulates as criminal offense collection of funds for political party contrary to the law with the intent to conceal the source of financing or the number of collected funds. For this criminal offense, the penalty of imprisonment from three months to three years is envisaged.

Yes, bribe payments to domestic government officials are prohibited by the legislation.

Yes, a bribe payment to foreign government officials is also prohibited.

Yes, requesting or accepting a bribe is prohibited pursuant to Articles 230, 231, 367 and 368 of the Serbian Criminal Law.

Articles 230 and 231 define receipt and giving of bribe between legal entities and private individuals during conduct of business. They define prohibition to the person engaged by the business entity to directly or indirectly request or receive or to offer or promise,  a gift or another benefit to the person engaged by the business entity, in order to conclude a contract or to reach a business agreement or to provide a service or to refrain from such activity or to breach other duties in the performance of business activity to the detriment or for the benefit of the business entity or other legal entity for which or in which it operates or another entity.

Article 368 defines giving of a bribe to officials and Article 367 defines receipt of a bribe by officials. They define prohibition to the official to directly or indirectly request, solicit or receive i.e. prohibition to any person to offer or promise gift or another economic benefit to the official, in order for the official to perform within his authorities the action which is not authorized to perform or to not perform action which is obliged to perform, or to perform the action which is obliged to perform, or to not perform the action which is not allowed to perform.

The Serbian Criminal Law applies to anybody who commits a crime on the territory of the Republic of Serbia, including on the domestic vessels and military aircraft (regardless of where they are) and domestic aircraft while in flight.

For giving a bribe, any person who commits such a crime is criminally responsible. For receiving a bribe only officials and foreign officials may commit such crime and are criminally responsible.

According to the Law on Responsibility of Legal Entities for Criminal Offenses ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia", no. 97/2008), there is criminal liability for corporate entities, under prescribed conditions.

A corporate entity shall be responsible for a criminal offense committed within the scope of its affairs and/or powers by the person in charge with a view of acquiring a property benefit for the legal entity.

The responsibility of the corporate entity shall also exist where, due to lack of supervision or control by a person in charge, it became possible for a natural person, acting under supervision and control by the person in charge, to commit a criminal offense to the benefit of the corporate entity.

The prescribed penalty for bribery is imprisonment in the range of 30 days up to 15 years. The exact range depends on the particular criminal offense as follows:

Accepting Bribes in Conducting Business Activity-Article 230 of Criminal Law:

• Who, in the performance of business activity for himself or for another, directly or indirectly, requests or receives a gift or other benefit or who receives a promise of a gift or other benefit, to conclude a contract or to reach a business agreement or to provide a service or to refrain from such activity or in breach of other duties in the performance of business activity to the detriment or for the benefit of the business entity or other legal entity for which or in which it operates or another entity, shall be punished with imprisonment of one to eight years; and
• The Offender from paragraph 1 of this article who after concluding a contract or reaching a business agreement or after rendered service or abstaining from such action, for himself or for another, requests or receives a gift or other benefit or accepts the promise of a gift or other benefit, shall be punished with imprisonment for a maximum of 3 years.  

Bribery (Offering and Giving Bribe) in Conducting Business Activity-Article 231 of Criminal Law

• Whoever makes, offers or promises a gift or other benefit to a person that such person  in performing of business activity concludes a contract or reaches a business agreement or renders a service or refrains from such activity or violates other duties in the conduct of business activity to the detriment or for the benefit of the business entity for who, or in whom he works, or to the detriment or for the benefit of another legal or natural person, or who mediates such giving of gifts or other benefits, shall be punished with imprisonment of three months to three years;
• The Offender from paragraph 1 of this article who gave a gift or other benefit at the request of a person to conclude a contract, perform a business agreement, provide a service or violate a duty, and he/she has reported the offense before he/she has learned that it is discovered, it can be released from punishment.

Soliciting and Accepting Bribes-Article 367 of Criminal Law

• An official who directly or indirectly solicits or accepts a gift or other benefit, or promise of a gift or other benefit for himself or another to perform an official act within his competence or in relation to his/her official powers that should not be performed or not to perform an official act that should be performed, shall be punished by imprisonment of two to twelve years.;
• An official who directly or indirectly solicits or accepts a gift or other benefit or a promise of a gift or benefit for himself or another to perform an official act within his competence or in relation to his/her official powers that he is obliged to perform or not to perform an official act that should not be performed shall be punished by imprisonment of two to eight years.;
• An official who commits the offense specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article in respect of uncovering a criminal offense, instigating or conducting criminal proceedings, pronouncement or enforcement of a criminal sanction, shall be punished by imprisonment of three to fifteen years.; and
• An official who after performing or failure to perform an official act specified in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article solicits or accepts a gift or other benefit in relation thereto, shall be punished by imprisonment of three months to three years.

Bribery-Article 368 of Criminal Law

• Whoever makes or offers a gift or other benefit to an official or another, to within his official competence or in relation to his/her official powers perform an official act that should not be performed or not to perform an official act that should be performed, or who acts as an intermediary in such bribing of an official, shall be punished by imprisonment of six months to five years.; and
• Whoever makes or offers a gift or other benefit to an official or another to, within his official competence or in relation to his/her official powers perform an official act that he is obliged to perform or not to perform an official act that he may not perform or who acts as an intermediary in such bribing of an official, shall be punished by imprisonment up to three years.

In addition to the above bribery criminal offenses, we emphasize the following criminal offenses that are very similar to the bribery and/or might cause similar consequences in practice:

Abuse of Position by Responsible Person-Article 227 of Criminal Law

• A responsible person who through abuse of his position or powers, exceeding his powers or failure to perform his duty obtains for himself or another natural person or legal entity unlawful material gain or causes material damage to another, provided that does not present other criminal offense, shall be punished with imprisonment from three months to three years;
• If the commission of the offense specified in paragraph 1 of this Article results in acquiring material gain exceeding four hundred and fifty thousand RSD, the offender shall be punished with imprisonment from six months to five years; and
• If the value of acquired material gain exceeds one million and five hundred thousand RSD, the offender shall be punished with imprisonment from two to ten years.

Public Procurement Abuse-Article 228 of Criminal Law

• Who, in connection with the public procurement, submits an offer based on false information, or agrees with the other bidders contrary to the law, or undertakes other unlawful actions in order to influence the decision making of the procuring entity, shall be punished with imprisonment of six months to five years;
• The punishment referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall also be imposed on a person in public procurement contracting authority, who, in exercising his position or authority, exceeding the limit of his authority, or by non-performance of his duty, has been violating  the  law or other public procurement regulations, thereby causing damage to public funds;
• If the offense referred to in para. 1 and 2 of this Article is made in connection with public procurement with a value exceeding one hundred and fifty million RSD,
• the offender will be punished with imprisonment of one to ten years; and
• The offender referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article who voluntarily discovers that the offer is based on false information or inadmissible agreement with other bidders, or has taken other unlawful actions in order to influence the decision making of the contracting authority before he makes a decision on awarding a contract may be exempt from the penalty.

Abuse of Office-Article 359 of Criminal Law

• An official who by abuse of office or authority, by exceeding the limits of his official authority or by dereliction of duty acquires for himself or another natural person or legal entity any benefit, or causes damages to a third party or seriously violates the rights of another, shall be punished by imprisonment of six months to five years;
• If the commission of the offense specified in paragraph 1 of this Article results in acquiring material gain exceeding four hundred and fifty thousand RSD, the offender shall be punished by imprisonment of one to eight years; and
• If the value of acquired material gain exceeds one million five hundred thousand RSD, the offender shall be punished by imprisonment of two to twelve years.

Influence Peddling-Article 366 of Criminal Law

• Whoever solicits or accepts either directly or through a third party a reward or any other benefit for himself or another in order to use his official or social position or his real or assumed influence to intercede for the performance or nonperformance of an official act, shall be punished with imprisonment of six months to five years;
• Whoever makes a promise or an offer, or gives to another either directly or through a third party a reward or any other benefit so that they would use their official or social position or real or assumed influence to intercede for performance or nonperformance of an official act shall be punished with imprisonment of up to three years;
• Whoever abuses their official or social position or real or assumed influence to intercede for the performance of an official act which should not be performed or for non-performance of an official act which should have been performed shall be punished with imprisonment of one year to eight years;
• Whoever makes a promise or an offer, or gives to another either directly or through a third party a reward or any other benefit so that they would use their official or social position or real or assumed influence to intercede for the performance of an official act which should not be performed or for non-performance of an official act which should have been performed shall be punished with imprisonment of six months to five years;
• If a reward or any other benefit has been solicited or received for the act of interceding referred to in paragraph 3 hereof, the offender shall be punished with imprisonment of two to ten years; and
• A foreign official who commits the offense specified in paragraphs 1 through 4 of this Article shall be punished by the penalty prescribed for that offense.

The following criminal sanctions for a criminal offense may be imposed on a legal entity:

• punishment including (i) pecuniary fines in the range from RSD 100 thousand (cca. EUR 840) to RSD 500 million (cca. EUR 4.2 million); and (ii) liquidation;
• suspended sentence; and
• safety measures, including (i) prohibition of exercising certain registered activities or affairs; (ii) confiscation of objects; and (iii) public announcement of the sentence.

No, having a compliance program designed to prevent bribery does not constitute a defense. Compliance program may be taken into account when determining the sanction, but if all conditions for a criminal offense are met, the company shall be criminal responsible notwithstanding the fact that the compliance program is in place. 

Yes, is it possible for a corporate entity to reach a deferred prosecution agreement with the enforcement authorities. However, for only limited criminal offenses is possible to reach a deferred prosecution agreement, i.e. such agreement may be executed only for an offense for which a prison up to five years is envisaged. Therefore, for the majority of corruption offenses is not possible to reach a deferred prosecution agreement.

On the other hand, the legislation of the Republic of Serbia does not envisage leniency agreement nor any similar agreement.

Also, a corporate entity may be exempted from punishment if (1) it detects and reports a criminal offense before becoming aware of initiation of the criminal procedure; and (2) voluntarily and without delay eliminate the damaging consequences or restitute the unlawfully gained property benefit.