The Association of Lawyers of Montenegro announced today the decision of the Constitutional Court, which repealed the provision of Article 17, paragraph 1 of the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance, which provided that the right to an old-age pension can be exercised by a male insured when he reaches the age of 66, or a female when reaches 64 years of age and 15 years of insurance experience, to indicate that the said decision will result in discrimination against men, with much more dangerous consequences compared to the reasons that the Constitutional Court stated in the explanation of its decision.
"This is due to the fact that after the repeal of Article 17, paragraph 1, the insured is a man (if he did not work in the metal processing and mining industry sectors; in jobs where seniority is calculated with increased duration in the defense, security and execution of criminal sanctions sectors or if he is not a parent a child with severe developmental disabilities who is a beneficiary of personal disability allowance), can exercise the right to an old-age pension only if he cumulatively fulfills the two conditions of 40 years of insurance service and 61 years of age. This is because of the so-called "transitional period" in which insured persons - men could exercise the right to an old-age pension under more favorable conditions compared to the solutions from Article 17 of the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance, which expired in 2019, while women can still exercise that right, in accordance with Articles 197đ and 198a of the aforementioned law," he points out. in the announcement.
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The Association of Lawyers added that it should be noted that in accordance with the Labor Law, the employment relationship ends by force of law when the employee reaches the age of 66 and has at least 15 years of insurance, while the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees foresees a more favorable solution, i.e. age limit of 67 years of age and 15 years of insurance experience.
"From all of the above, it can be concluded that a man who turns 66 or 67 years old - if he worked in a state body (and 15 years of insurance experience), and who does not fulfill the second condition: 40 years of insurance experience (which is provided for in Article 17 , paragraph 2 of the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance), will be excluded from the labor market, without the possibility of exercising the right to an old-age pension. So: a man will not be treated the same as a woman with whom he is in a comparable situation, which is an example of direct discrimination. The only the possibility that a man can use, in order not to end up in a situation of being a beneficiary of material security, is to submit an application for obtaining an early old-age pension, which - according to the currently valid solutions, is extremely unfavorable for insured persons. This is because the amount of this pension is reduced by every month of early retirement before reaching the age of 66 (male) by 0,35%, and this reduction is permanent," the announcement reads.
The Association of Lawyers said that the above-mentioned consequences were also recognized by the Constitutional Court, which, after considering the request for review of the decision in paragraph two, set a deadline of one month from the day of its publication in the Official Gazette of Montenegro, within which deadline the Government is obliged to give the Parliament of Montenegro submit a proposal for a law that will regulate the right to old-age pension of the insured (man, woman) in accordance with the Constitution, in accordance with the legal positions of the Constitutional Court expressed in this decision.
"Keeping in mind the seriousness of the problem that we pointed out on this occasion, we call on the relevant ministry, that is, the Government, to prepare amendments to the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance as soon as possible and in cooperation with social partners, which would include the provision of a single age limit for exercising the right to old-age pension, with a minimum insurance period of 15 years," they said.
The Association of Lawyers appeals for special attention to be paid in the coming period in order to eliminate the consequences of the "legal experiments" which, they add, they witnessed in the previous period - and which were related to changes to the Labor Law in order to deal with "undesirable individuals" in system.
"Therefore, it is necessary for the relevant ministries, in cooperation with social partners, to harmonize the solutions in the Labor Law and the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees, in order to foresee a single age limit for the termination of the employment relationship by force of law," concludes the statement of the Association of Lawyers .
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