Senior prosecutor abolishing dedicated departments

Illegal construction cases were prosecuted by specially appointed deputy prosecutors working in separate sections for years. The decision to shut down those separate sections was taken by the Higher Public Prosecutor in Belgrade Nenad Stefanovic who issued mandatory instructions to the Basic Prosecution departments, saying that those deputy prosecutors did not have any special training which means that all other prosecutors can deal with those cases.

Nova.rs recalled that Stefanovic said several months ago that the Higher Public Prosecution would deal with the crime of illegal construction in the Serbian capital. “Stefanovic tried to explain his decision with a conclusion reached by the so-called Higher Public Prosecution Professional Surveillance which he formed to look into illegal construction cases among others,” the portal said.

The portal quoted unnamed sources who said the mandatory instructions are illegal because Stefanovic is getting involved in cases which are not under his jurisdiction.
The Serbian judiciary has been tackling illegal construction for decades with prominent cases involving people close to the authorities. There have been several instances of the authorities agreeing to legalize buildings completed without construction permits.