The working group tasked with development of the Law on Academic Integrity has had four meetings this year,12 January, 22 February, 20 March and 22 March and the first draft of the law has already been produced. On 22 March, its members had a meeting with two Council of Europe consultants from the United Kingdom and Serbia who are already providing technical assistance in this respect. Discussions covered questions shuch as what should be the framework, what topics should be addressed and how far should the law regulate the issues. Placing the responsibility on an identified governance ethical body was important, as was the duty to monitor and report on the application of the different codes. The consultants will soon provide their written comments to the draft law.

The first draft is planned for release by end of May. This version will undergo a series of public consultations and eventually adopted by the government during the summer.

This activity was organised as part of the Action “Strengthen integrity and combat corruption in higher education”, which is being implemented under the joint Council of Europe and the European Union Programme Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey.