Corporate governance codes have been developed as an instrument of selfregulation, and its implementation was based on the premise that companies will voluntarily adhere to the code (principle of voluntary implementation). In this article, the author is showing how the legislator has changed over time the attitude towards them, mostly by recognizing corporate governance codes in the law, by introducing the obligation of its application by every public corporation, as well as the obligation to explain every deviation from the 'comply or explain' rules contained in the code. With these developments the codes have shifted away from their original self-regulatory and non-statutory nature, and became more or less close to state regulation. In the future, legal interventions in the field of developing stronger enforcement instruments of corporate governance codes are expected, and Serbia will not stay immune to these changes.