The Annual Conference of the Prosecutors Association of Serbia (PAS) included representatives of MEDEL (European Association of Judges and Prosecutors for Democracy and Freedoms) and its Portuguese member organization SMMP (Sindicato dos Magistrados do Ministério Público).
Mariarosaria Guglielmi, President of MEDEL, addressed the participants at the opening of the conference, emphasizing that with the rise of populism worldwide, there are growing attempts to limit the power of prosecutors, and that even Italy, her home country, is not free from such challenges. She welcomed the participants on behalf of MEDEL and reaffirmed the organization’s support for strengthening judicial and prosecutorial independence across Europe.
The conference also featured César Damas Caniço, a public prosecutor from Lisbon representing the Portuguese SMMP – a member of MEDEL.
During the first panel, which focused on various forms of undue influence on prosecutors, he shared his insights and experience from Portugal, alongside colleagues from Italy, Slovenia, and Serbia, including Dr. Goran Ilić, Dr. Alessandro Simoni, and Dr. Boštjan Valenčič.