The MP and President of the Bar Municipal Assembly, Branislav Nenezić, cannot hold both positions, according to the decision of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK).
The Agency recently made a similar decision for MP and Mayor of Nikšić Marko Kovačević.
Both MPs and municipal leaders, according to the Agency, have a conflict of interest and perform incompatible functions and have not submitted their resignations within 30 days from one of the two functions.
Nenezić claimed in his statement that "the Agency did not take into account the impossibility of retroactively applying new legal opinions and the fact that the mandates have begun and that they require actions that contain certain obligations towards our citizens."
The explanation of the ASK decision, signed by Dušan Drakić, states that "The Agency applies the Law on the Prevention of Corruption from the date of its adoption, i.e. the date of entry into force - 12.06.2024, and not retroactively, which would be contrary to Article 147 of the Constitution of Montenegro, which prohibits the retroactive effect of laws and other regulations, except in the case of provisions of the criminal law and only if it is more lenient for the perpetrator of the criminal offense."
"The Agency cannot apply the provisions of a law that has not been in legal circulation since the date of entry into force of the current one, and therefore cannot retroactively apply the provisions of a law that no longer produces legal effect. Namely, the new law that entered into force on 12.06.2024, stipulates that only conflicts of interest and whistleblower reports must be resolved under the provisions of the old law, from which it indisputably follows that all other initiated proceedings will be completed under the provisions of the new Law on the Prevention of Corruption ("Official Gazette of Montenegro" No. 54/24). In support of the above, we also refer to the act of the Ministry of Justice, as the authorized proposer of the law, No. 06-040/24-10466/1 dated 14.10.2024, which emphasizes that proceedings will be initiated to decide whether a public official has violated the provisions of the law relating to restrictions on the performance of public functions, gifts, sponsorships, donations and reports on income and assets of public officials, "end in accordance with the provisions of the applicable Law on the Prevention of Corruption," the decision states.
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