Serbia: Opinion on the Draft Law Amending the Law on Financing Political Activities

On 13 March 2026, ODIHR was requested to provide a legal review of the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on the Financing of Political Activities (Draft Law). The Draft Law addresses several recommendations contained in ODIHR election observation final reports, as well as the 2024 Urgent Opinion on Draft Amendments to Several Pieces of Election-related Legislation of Serbia, and the 2022 Venice Commission and ODIHR Joint Opinion on the Constitutional and Legal Framework Governing the Functioning of Democratic Institutions - Electoral Law and Electoral Administration.

The amendments revising the Law on the Financing of Political Activities (LFPA) represent a positive step towards improving party and campaign finance legislative framework and have been prepared taking into account some previous ODIHR recommendations, as well as some proposals from civil society organizations. The amendments introduce regulation of third-party campaigning, lower donation limits for legal persons, establish campaign expenditure limits, set additional deadlines for handling and resolving disputes, and provide corresponding sanctions for violation of some of these new provisions. However, other ODIHR recommendations regarding the need to have an effective oversight mechanism, to establish a system of dissuasive sanctions, introduce incentives to encourage political parties to promote women’s active political participation, adjust legal deadlines for distributing public funds to allow meaningful opportunities for campaigning and introduce safeguards against misuse of public funds remain only partially or not yet fully addressed. In addition, some of the new provisions in the Draft Law could benefit from further refinement to ensure full alignment with international standards and good practice.