The Ministry of European Affairs (MEP) is collecting suggestions on the versions of the draft law that were approved by the Government the night before yesterday, and whose adoption is necessary to obtain the Report on the Assessment of the Fulfillment of Temporary Benchmarks (IBAR) in the negotiations with the European Union (EU).
According to the unofficial knowledge of "Vijesti", all suggestions should be sent to the European Commission (EC) for consideration within two days. If the EC gives the "green light" to them, the Government will have the right, as the proposer of changes to the law, to act through amendments before the adoption of those acts in the parliament.
Amendments can also be submitted by parliamentary groups.
The suggestion, as several sources from the Government unofficially told "Vijesta" the night before yesterday, was supposed to be sent to the EC yesterday, but that did not happen.
Most of the comments were on amendments to the Law on Prevention of Corruption. Those remarks, more than ten of them, were sent to the MEP yesterday by the Cabinet of the Deputy Prime Minister Alekse Bečić (Democrats).
They are mainly based on the key recommendations presented by the non-governmental sector, so that they are respected to the maximum extent possible and the text of the law is improved, said the source of "Vijesti" from the Government.
The remarks, which "Vijesti" have access to, propose, among other things, the introduction of an obligation for the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (AKS) to perform tasks of preventing conflicts of interest and restrictions on the performance of public functions in all cases where the competence of a special body is not prescribed. .
It was also proposed to change the definition of a gift, so that it includes the recommendations of the experts of the Council of Europe, that is, that the gift should be a write-off of loans, debts and release from obligations, but also services and the provision of certain benefits.
In the definition of assets, it is proposed to include deposits, as well as assets abroad, such as deposits in foreign banks, shares and shares in companies, but also, for example, trusts, which most often serve to hide assets and do not have to be registered.
"The definition of property also includes property in cases where an official establishes a company and hires fictitious owners, but he is the actual owner of that legal entity or property (ultimate beneficial owner - UBO). Additionally, this definition of property also includes ownership of, for example, illegally built objects that are not registered in the cadastre, i.e. property acquired by entering into a contract/pre-contract on the sale or notarization of a notary's note on the existence of a legal transaction," the remarks state.
It was also proposed to introduce the obligation of public officials to report any form of property change. According to the ASK's interpretation so far, public officials did not have to report the sale of some real estate and the money they received for it, which, according to the authors of the comments, represents a huge corruption risk, because a public official can sell property, for example real estate, for a multiple times higher price than the market price or buy it at a significantly lower price, which in fact represents a hidden gift.
Additionally, it is proposed to retain the solution from the current law, instead of the proposed increase in the value of the increase in property for which a separate report must be submitted from 5.000 to 10.000.
"The amount of 10.000 euros is too high and is higher than the annual average net salary", it is stated in the suggestions that "Vijesti" had access to.
It is also proposed to introduce the obligation of public officials to declare their children's assets even if they do not live with them in the household.
"This is especially because a number of examples from practice show that the children of numerous public officials are excluded from the income and property reports as soon as they turn 18 and immediately acquire significant property that cannot be explained by their official income," it was explained.
Public officials, as stated, should report all forms of digital assets that could represent a financial interest or a potential conflict of interest in the performance of their official duties.
It was also proposed to keep reports on the income and assets of public officials even after the expiration of the 10-year period, because "this promotes permanent transparency and enables citizens to check and analyze the financial interests and possible conflicts of interest of public officials even after they leave office."
It was also proposed to prescribe the deadline for the Agency to publish the reports submitted to it, "immediately, and no later than within 30 days from the date of submission by public officials". Also, the Agency undertakes to publish decisions on its website within 15 days of their adoption.
The authors of the comments suggest that the KAS be required to initiate proceedings or submit information about it to the competent prosecutor's office in cases where the lifestyle of officials deviates significantly from their official income.
"It should be prescribed that lifestyle monitoring includes comparing reported income and assets in relation to spending habits, housing conditions and assets of public officials, married and common-law spouses and children. Additionally, it is prescribed that the Agency can also collect information from other sources about the so-called lifestyle of officials, which includes other data available to legal or natural persons that show consumer habits, i.e. on the basis of which the disposition of certain assets can be determined," the remarks state. .
It is planned to introduce a new competence of the Council of the Agency to decide on appeals against the director's decisions, as well as to delete the statute of limitations in accordance with the recommendations of the Venice Commission and civil society, as well as with the Government's commitment to zero tolerance for high-level corruption.
"By introducing a statute of limitations (procedure), which is not provided for by the current law, nor was it proposed by any expert who analyzed this law in the previous period, it could encourage the illegal behavior of public officials, and send a message that they will avoid legal consequences, if enough they can hide their assets for a long time", according to the authors of the remarks.
On Wednesday, the government adopted media laws and amendments to systemic laws in the field of justice and the fight against corruption and organized crime: the Law on the Judicial Council and Judges, the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office, the Law on the Special State Prosecutor's Office, the Law on Prevention of Corruption, the Law on Confiscation of Assets acquired through criminal activity, the Law on Courts and the Law on the Center for Training in the Judiciary and Prosecutor's Office.
Deputy Prime Minister Aleksa Becic and a number of ministers from Democratic Montenegro - Dragan Krapović (defense), Tamara Vujović (culture and media) i Danilo Šaranović (internal affairs) separated their opinion on the amendments to the media laws, in the part concerning the Public Service, and they had remarks on several other laws as well.
The Venice Commission had objections to all the laws, and especially to the amendments to the Law on Prevention of Corruption, assessing, among other things, that the draft remained basically the same as the law currently in force, with a few adjustments in the text of the provisions.
Office of the Vice President Moma Koprivica he sent comments on the proposed changes to the law on the state prosecution and the judicial council and judges.
There were no objections to other systemic laws in the field of justice and the fight against corruption and organized crime, and according to "Vijesti" information, the amendments to the Law on Confiscation of Assets Gained from Criminal Activity "are irreparable", so a new proposal will probably be made after receiving of IBAR.
The session of the Assembly where the IBAR laws will be discussed is scheduled for Tuesday.
Popović Kalezić: Laws are not written hastily
The speed with which the Government proposes laws is worrisome, as well as the fact that many of them were not discussed publicly, the executive director of the Center for Civil Liberties (CEGAS), Marija Popović Kalezić, told "Vijesti".
She said that even after receiving the IBAR, the EU's demands towards Montenegro will be serious and that a serious approach to reforms will be needed if the negotiation process is to end with EU membership.
He warns that political entities with their partial party interests have been "eating up the time" needed for essential reforms, inclusiveness of the process of arriving at normative solutions and acceleration of Montenegro's European path for a decade.
"All the time, even today, we have a political crisis and a more or less unstable government. "Brussels sees problems, but also sees that Montenegro has remained on the path of foreign policy priorities and wants to give us a chance," she said.
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