The Law on Free Access to Information has been applied in Montenegro for more than a decade, it significantly contributed to the transparency of authorities, but also shed light on numerous examples of their illegal and unscrupulous work, as well as various controversial actions of decision makers. Unfortunately, in addition to the fact that its provisions have not yet been fully implemented, it is noted, in the case of certain authorities, that compliance with legal obligations is also lagging behind.
This is stated in the study "Free access to information in Montenegro - a system ripe for changing filters", published by the Center for Civic Education (CGO).
"In practice, there are frequent cases of non-up-to-date and untimely actions of authorities, both in terms of the mandatory public publication of certain information, and in the part of acting on user requests, which remains without appropriate sanctions. To this should be added the trend of abuses by some users," he states. in conclusion...
The number of bodies that are bound by this Act is continuously growing, so at the end of 2022, the AZLP register had 1.322 bodies registered, compared to 260 in 2013.
At the same time, according to the announcement of the CGE, the number of applicants is also increasing, from 400 in 2013 to as many as 9.441 in 2022.
"In the structure of applicants, traditionally the largest number of requests comes from non-governmental organizations. Thus, during 2022, NGOs submitted 4.051 requests, i.e. 58 percent of the total number of requests. They are followed by natural persons with 2.491 requests (35 percent), as well as companies that submitted 226 requests (3 percent). The data also indicate an increase in the number of submitted requests on an annual basis, which in 2022, according to AZLP data, was 6.997, which is several times more than, for example, in 2013. when there were 1.789. AZLP also recorded an increase in the number of complaints, which in 2022 were 8.865, significantly more than in 2021, which was a record year with 5.400 complaints. A decade earlier, in 2013, AZLP had only 361 complaints ", they said from CGO.
Data from the Administrative Court submitted to CGO also indicate a huge increase in the number of lawsuits against AZLP.
"In 2021, a total of 1.479 lawsuits against AZLP were submitted to this court, during 2022, 5.066 lawsuits, and by September 6, 2023, 7.717 lawsuits. Out of 14.262 cases against AZLP, from January 1, 2021 to 6 as of September 2023, only 4.588 were resolved. The average length of proceedings in cases in which AZLP was sued in 2022 was 494 days, and from January 1 to October 3, 2023, 384.5 days," the study says.
They point out that the inaction of the authorities is harmful to the users, and it also creates a burden on the authorities responsible for controlling their decisions and work, that is, the AZLP and the Administrative Court.
"This leads to the discouragement of users interested in certain information, but also creates space for those who, through the abuse of legal mechanisms, achieve targeted financial gain. In recent years, Montenegro has been faced with the abuse of the mechanism of free access to information by certain users. This causes multiple damage - according to the state budget, according to the users of the law who really intend to obtain certain information, but also to the authorities that deal with the processing of received requests".
The study also provides an overview of the legal framework of free access to information, with an insight into comparative regional experiences, in order to contribute to an objective view of the current situation in this area, i.e. an overview of advantages and disadvantages in Montenegrin practice.
CGO said that during the preparation of the study, they conducted a series of interviews with representatives of the authorities, AZLP and the Administrative Court, as well as users of the Law, i.e. journalists, lawyers and NGO activists, whose answers permeate the topics covered by the study.
In order to address the difficulties burdening this area and the need for greater transparency, the CGE also gave a set of recommendations on how to improve the area of free access to information in Montenegro.
Among other things, it is recommended that public sector bodies more proactively publish information about their work, as well as structure it more adequately on their websites and update it more regularly, which would affect the reduction of their administrative burden, as well as the consequent burden of secondary authorities.
"Also, the CGE is in the position that the sessions of the AZLP Council should be open to the public, with the exception of cases in which confidentiality of data or protection of personal data must be ensured. Amendments to the legal framework, among other things, should go in the direction of preventing the abuse of rights by users, but with caution that the introduction of new measures does not open up space for unjustified use by authorities that decide on requests. Similar to the practices that exist in the region, it is necessary to establish a register of authorities that have not implemented the decisions of the AZLP, but also legally to more precisely define the jurisdiction for initiating misdemeanor proceedings against the authorities and responsible persons in them in case of non-fulfillment of obligations from the Law on Free Access to Information, as well as other sanctions when the authorities do not implement the decision of the AZLP. Part of the recommendations also refers to encouraging a more proactive role of the AZLP and in informing the public, as well as improving the AZLP website," the study says.
The authors of the publication are Damir Suljević and Nikola Obradović, and the publication was produced with the support of the Core grant of the SMART Balkan regional project - Civil society for a connected Western Balkans, which is implemented by the Center for the Promotion of Civil Society (CPCD), the Center for Research and Public Policy (CRPM) and The Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM) is financially supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.
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