After months of pressure on independent media, academic institutions and NGOs, Serbia’s ruling majority has moved to reshape the judiciary. In an expedited procedure that skipped public debate and established legislative consultations, parliament last week approved a package of amendments to five core judicial laws. Critics say the changes, formally submitted by ruling party lawmaker Ugljesa Mrdic and dubbed the “Mrdic laws,” threaten judicial independence and amount to a political takeover.
Mrdic framed the amendments as measures to make the justice system “more efficient” and to return a “hijacked judiciary to the state and the people,” accusing foreign-influenced centers of power of controlling prosecutions. Within the legal community, however, the changes are widely seen as aimed at bringing the prosecution under political control and stalling inquiries into high-level corruption and organized crime allegedly reaching into the political elite.
The most damaging change affects the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime (TOK). Under the new rules, more than half of TOK prosecutors will lose their mandates within 30 days and be reassigned to the posts they held before joining the office — in many cases jobs they left years earlier. TOK warned this would cause “complete paralysis” in handling its most complex and sensitive investigations.
Observers say the timing suggests retaliation: over the past year TOK opened probes into two former ministers and filed an indictment against a serving government minister. Prosecutors reportedly hold extensive evidence from intercepted messages on the encrypted Sky Communications platform that implicate senior state officials.
TOK’s investigations include major drug cartels and the deadly collapse of a canopy at Novi Sad railway station in November 2024, which killed 16 people and sparked allegations of systemic corruption on large infrastructure projects involving Chinese contractors. TOK also filed charges against Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic, accusing him of abusing office by removing protected status from the General Staff complex in central Belgrade, clearing the way for a major development tied to a company associated with Jared Kushner; Kushner later withdrew from the project after Selakovic’s indictment.
Constitutional and legal reforms adopted in 2023 had given prosecutors greater autonomy, enabling several sensitive probes. Those moves were met almost immediately with political pressure and dismissals, notably at the Belgrade Higher Prosecutor’s Office, led by Nenad Stefanovic, a figure close to the ruling party. Prosecutor Bojana Savovic, who earlier exposed political interference in that office, says many prosecutors needed time to understand their expanded responsibilities; she adds that the Novi Sad tragedy and ensuing protests pushed parts of the judiciary toward independent action.
TOK publicly warned about direct pressure from President Aleksandar Vucic, citing his statements and institutional obstruction of the Novi Sad investigation, including withdrawal of the police, the Tax Administration and the Anti-Money Laundering Directorate from joint investigative efforts. Amid media targeting of prosecutors, a fire broke out in the office of one prosecutor involved in the case while key documents were stored there; officials said the documents were saved at the last minute.
Brussels swiftly condemned the legislative changes and said it would carry out a “substantive assessment.” EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos described the vote as “a serious step backwards” for a candidate country that is expected to behave in a European manner. Some expected President Vucic to withhold his signature in the face of the backlash; instead he signed the laws immediately and framed the move as defiance of outside pressure, saying he makes his own decisions.
Resistance is growing within Serbia’s judiciary. The Union of Judicial Authorities called on judges and prosecutors to suspend work in defence of judicial independence and the rule of law, a call that has led to work stoppages and street protests in cities including Novi Sad. Groups of judges and prosecutors have left courtrooms to join demonstrations, and stoppages are spreading nationally. Some within the judiciary argue that suspending work is not enough and that stronger measures may be needed immediately to prevent irreversible harm.
Sofija Mandic of the Center for Judicial Research (CEPRIS) warned that society has reacted too slowly and that power concentration has been building for 14 years, but she also noted a growing will to resist: “Are there people resisting? I think there are — more than ever before. The pressure is so brutal that it is waking even those who slept deeply for years.” Still, she and others caution that without sustained public support and clear signals from the EU, judicial resistance may not be sufficient to stop a slide toward a more autocratic system. Edited by: Aingeal Flanagan