To date, no natural or legal person has been held accountable for the misuse or use of state symbols that have been damaged, despite the penal provisions of the Law on State Symbols.
This is concluded from the recent response of the Ministry of Culture, after that government department was asked about the case of the last use of the torn flag, which flew on the flagpole of the Ju Airport of Montenegro, and when it was said that there are simply no records of law breakers.
The Ministry did not react even in the specific case, while the violator - the airport administration did. An hour after the newsroom contacted, the torn flag was replaced by a new one. Which is not the case with many, not even with the legislative body which, to make the paradox even greater, passed the Law on State Symbols.
For several years now, MPs, journalists and citizens can see flags flying in front of the parliament building, whose proportions do not correspond to the legally prescribed form.
Assembly without comment
The law is clear: the flag of Montenegro is red, with a coat of arms in the middle and a golden border. The ratio of the length to the width of the flag is two to one.
The Decree states that the Ministry of Culture performs tasks related to state symbols
The coat of arms on the flag occupies 2/3 of the flag's height. The central point of the coat of arms coincides with the point where the diagonals of the flag intersect. The width of the gold border is 1/20 of the narrow part of the flag".
When asked by "Vijesti" why flags are used in that chamber that do not look as required by law, nor when they will be replaced with flags of appropriate dimensions, the Assembly said "no comment".
Although the Law on State Slimballs and the Statehood Day of Montenegro does not specify who is responsible for the implementation of those laws, the Decree on the Organization and Mode of Operation of the State Administration does. The Decree states that the Ministry of Culture performs tasks related to state symbols.
There is no record
However, even though the competent authority is the Ministry of Culture, as confirmed by "Vijesti", there is no record of anyone being punished for misuse or use of damaged state symbols, with the exception that that government department "in certain cases warned of irregularities in the use of state symbols", on the basis of which "they are corrected within the prescribed period".
Penalties prescribed by law for such a violation, for a legal entity, range from 1.000 to 20.000 euros.
That ministry, as announced, in specific situations, carries out inspection control within its competences, and only on the basis of inspection findings undertakes further measures, "the first of which is a warning to withdraw a damaged or unsuitable flag from use within a certain period of time". .
Penalties prescribed by law for such a violation, for a legal entity, range from 1.000 to 20.000 euros. According to the provisions of the Law, the responsible person in a legal entity for such an offense may be fined from 300 euros to 2.000 euros.
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