The draft law on the National Security Agency (ANB) meets the standards regarding the authority and competence of its officers, said the Minister of Justice Duško Marković, stating that the proposed solutions are the best response to national security interests.
Today, the Montenegrin MPs finalized the Draft Law on ANB, which stipulates that the Agency's officials can, without a warrant, perform an indiscriminate inspection of the registers and databases that are in the possession of all legal entities in Montenegro.
The proposal of the law provides that Agency officials with 25 years of service retire by force of law, and that their average salary is increased by 40 percent compared to the previous year's earnings.
Today, Marković said at the plenum that amendments to the law on ANB were proposed with the aim of improving the legal framework of its activities, which serves the purpose of achieving full legal order in the area of national security.
He clarified that this is part of the overall reform activities carried out in the process of Euro-Atlantic integration and that the new solutions enable normative assumptions for further profiling of the ANB, appropriate to international standards, with the basic goal of quality opposition to security challenges, risks and threats.
Marković stated that the draft law provides a procedure for approval by the judicial authorities of those activities of the Agency that encroach on the human rights and freedoms of citizens, stating that the provisions of the law relating to the secret collection of data are harmonized with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights.
"An important novelty is the prescription of the explicit obligation of the Agency to report to the police and the prosecutor's office on data that indicate the existence of a well-founded suspicion that a criminal offense is being prepared, organized or committed, which is being prosecuted ex officio, which in practice will have a positive effect on the valorization of the collected data from the jurisdiction of ANB, which was not the case until now," he said.
Marković pointed out that, as before, secret surveillance measures can be extended for a period of up to 24 months, but also that, as before, the Agency's work does not allow any form of coercion in the collection of data.
"Only the adoption of the law is not enough, the more difficult phase of implementation follows, and together we need to make the Agency professional and credible," he said.
Marković also rejected the statements of some deputies that Montenegro is a mafia state, organized crime and that the agency is a mafia organization that stands behind such a state.
"If Montenegro is a mafia state, and ANB is a mafia organization, and not an institution that works according to the law, it is not the responsibility of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Government, the director of the agency, but all of us together," he added.
Answering the MP's questions, Marković said that he cannot agree with the accusations that the Montenegrin security system is an extension of some foreign service.
He said that there were a lot of amendments and that some were accepted, such as that no operative has the discretionary right to access data, but only in accordance with the law and procedures.
Marković said that he remains open to issues related to the protection of citizens' freedoms, to be discussed through committees and amendments.
He said that the Agency is not an organ of force and coercion, because its officers cannot legitimize, detain, arrest, or interfere with positions, and explained that they exercise powers in accordance with Article 6, which talks about what the interests of the state are and how they to preserve. "And I did not hear that anyone proposed a modification of the authority from that article."
Marković claims that there are no new powers in the law, "on the contrary, by changing the law, we are limiting operatives' right to access data, as was previously foreseen".
He believes that standards have been met in terms of authority and jurisdiction and that the proposed solutions should have been the best response to national security interests.
Speaking about the part related to the retirement of ANB officials, Marković said that this does not mean that the service wants to get rid of them, nor is it the manner of a democratic government. "It is a political decision to provide the conditions to improve human resources capacities in a short period of time, so it is a matter of strengthening the operational capacities of the Agency".
According to him, most of those officers are capable operatives, who made a great contribution, worked honorably, but that for the new era, additional knowledge and skills are needed, which these people do not possess now.
Marković pointed out that 80 percent of the Agency's employees do not speak English, or are not adequately computer-educated, stating that this would present difficulties in working with international partners and, for example, in the fight against cybercrime.
"On behalf of the Government, I want to say to the members of the ANB, who will be covered by the law, that we appreciate and respect them and that this is not a measure of repression, but a need of the state. It is not fair, but it is expedient," he said.
Marković also said that there are no behind-the-scenes actions and that he is the head of the operation, the key man in the Agency from the aspect of operational work, and not the director, and clarified that the head of the operation cannot sign the employee's status rights.
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