Ombudsman: And the Assembly is to blame for the situation in AZLP

The institution of the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms called on the Parliament of Montenegro to take all necessary measures and actions without further delay in order to appoint the president and member of the Council of the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data and Free Access to Information (AZLP).

The procedure before the institution of the Protector refers to the failure of the AZLP to act on several appeals filed against the decisions of competent state bodies and judgments of the Administrative Court.

"According to the Law, until the appointment of a new president and member of the AZLP Council, there are no procedural requirements for deciding on reported appeals against the decisions of the competent authorities and acting on the judgments of the Administrative Court, because the decisions in those cases are made by the AZLP Council, with a majority vote of the members of the Council," it is stated. in the opinion signed by the deputy protector Snezana Armenko.

In its statement, AZLP did not dispute the allegations in the complaint, but pointed out that it has a large number of cases in its work, i.e. that it received 2020 complaints in 3.000, and 5.430 last year, and that due to the situation with the coronavirus pandemic and a smaller number of perpetrators worked with reduced capacity... They also note that at the end of December, the Assembly dismissed the president and member of the AZLP Council Sreten Radonjić i Bojan Obrenović, and that until the appointment of their successors, there are no legal conditions for deciding appeals.

Recently, the second call of the Parliamentary Administrative Committee for President and Council member was completed, to which eight candidates applied. At the first call, none of the candidates received the majority support of the Board members.

"The Defender notes that part of the responsibility for the indicated situation lies with the Assembly, which, in accordance with positive regulations, elects the president and members of the AZLP Council", according to the opinion of deputy Armenko.