The Agency for the Prevention of Corruption will no longer have obligations towards the person who reports suspicions of endangering the public interest and the existence of corruption (whistleblower), but that person will be able to seek protection exclusively in court.
Such a solution is planned in the working version of the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Prevention of Corruption, which, according to unofficial information from "Vijesti", is also being read by international experts. The draft act, according to the official answer to "Vijesti" from the Ministry of Justice, could be put up for public debate as early as the end of March.
The current Law stipulates that whistleblowers are protected by the Agency.
Until now, a person who suspects that the public interest is at risk has been able to submit a request to the Agency, after which the Agency determines whether there is a possibility of damage to the whistleblower and draws up an opinion on this and submits it to the authority, company, entrepreneur or other legal or physical person due to which actions the whistleblower takes damage. The authorities are obliged to implement the recommendations of the Agency, and if they do not do so, the institution informs the parliament and the public.
However, the working version of the Draft, which "Vijesti" had access to, foresees the prohibition of retaliation against whistleblowers and judicial protection.
"A whistleblower who has suffered damage, that is, who is threatened with the possibility of damage, in connection with the submission of a report on endangering the public interest that points to the existence of corruption, that is, by public disclosure, has the right to judicial protection. Judicial protection is achieved by filing a lawsuit for the protection of whistleblowers with the competent court, within six months from the date of the damage, i.e. knowledge of the possibility of damage due to the filing of a report on endangering the public interest that points to the existence of corruption, i.e. public disclosure. The procedure for the judicial protection of whistleblowers is urgent... The procedure for the protection of whistleblowers does not have to be preceded by the procedure for the peaceful resolution of disputes before the Agency for Peaceful Resolution of Labor Disputes or before the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution", that document provides.
The European Commission emphasized in several reports that it is necessary that all those who dare to point out corruption and threats to the public interest should be protected by a special law. However, this is not the case again, and it will continue to be part of the anti-corruption regulations.
The working version of the future regulation did not take into account the recommendation of the Group of Countries for the Fight against Corruption (GREKO) that "the rules on gifts and other benefits should be more specific, especially by clarifying the definition of protocol and special gifts".
The rules for the selection of members remain the same, while candidates for the position of Agency director, in addition to the previous requirements, must also have passed the bar exam...
MP: NGOs did not apply for the competition
"The twelve-member Working Group whose task is to draft the Law on Amendments to the Law on Prevention of Corruption includes members from the Ministry of Justice, the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office (VDT), the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), the Supreme Court, the High Court, as well as a representative of the Cabinet of the Deputy Prime Minister for the political system, judiciary and anti-corruption. After the initial formation of the Working Group, with the formation of the 44th Government, there were changes in the composition, in terms of achieving greater inclusivity and involving the judiciary and prosecutor's offices of all levels, which ensured a higher quality of the Working Group", explained the Ministry of Justice.
They point out that "the newspaper concerns the improvement of the general legal solution in accordance with GREKO recommendations, peer review mission reports and analyzes of the Council of Europe, which the public will have the opportunity to learn more about during the public hearing".
"The public hearing will follow when the work on the draft is finished, and according to the work done so far compared to the plan, the realistic date for holding the public hearing is the end of March or the beginning of April this year...".
Asked to comment on the fact that there is no representative of the civil sector in the working group, from the department he manages Andrej Milović they explain that none of the representatives of non-governmental organizations responded to last year's public invitation.
"The Ministry of Justice fosters a high degree of commitment to cooperation with NGOs when drafting laws. Through regular consultations, working groups and public debates, the Ministry always strives to actively involve the civil sector, in order to ensure an inclusive and transparent law-making process. The Ministry's position is known that this cooperation not only improves the quality of laws, but also strengthens citizens' trust in the justice system, and that is why the Ministry of Justice will remain consistent with the idea that representatives of the civil sector are very welcome for any cooperation in which they express interest", they announced. .
Drakić: Adoption of bad regional practice
However, the Ministry of Justice did not answer whether representatives of the ASK Union were invited to the working group.
The president of that labor organization Dušan Drakić He told "Vijesta" that "good practice involved the participation of a wide range of experts who deal with this matter". He said that such an expert approach enabled the drafting of regulations in 2014, which even today, after 10 years, in some of its norms represents an example of good practice and a model that is used when drafting acts in this area.
"The most important and essential change is the abolition of the protection for whistleblowers provided by KSA and the provision of only judicial protection for these persons. The deep ignorance and bad intentions of the ASK representatives led us to legislate something that already exists in other laws, to rule out the possibility that the anti-corruption body can help the whistleblower and thereby accept the bad solution of the countries in the region, even though we are familiar with how whistleblowers fare. . This means that one norm - which is an example of good practice - has been deleted", emphasized Drakić.
He pointed out that he was pleased with the confirmation of the Agency's current management that the current Act is good.
"It is alarming that the entire process is carried out in a non-transparent and hidden manner without the participation of the ASK Trade Union and NGO representatives who could have been a good partner to the Working Group with a series of prepared solutions and the opening of issues in numerous areas covered by the law. In the end, it seems that it is only a question of filling out the form and not of any essential change", said Drakić, adding that the current Law is well done and set, but there is a lack of independent, non-selective and professional staff and management to implement it.
Watches, apartments, millions for guarantees, Medenica, media spins and Verica
The parliamentary committee for anti-corruption discussed yesterday, among other things, the work of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption.
After Jelena Perović and her colleagues presented the results of their work, the deputies were interested in hearing more about the procedure related to the watches of the former head of state Milo Đukanović, the "nobody's" house below Gorica that is connected to that former official, the apartments of the director of the Agency, but also the millions of euros that the arrested officials offer as bail, the correspondence with the accused former president of the Supreme Court, Vesna Medenica...
On several occasions, Perović questioned MP Momčilo Leković about who provides him with information, while she warned MP Milun Zogović that he too could be a target of "media spins, without ethical codes".
"Media affairs... Who orders them? I'm terribly interested in that. Why do you think that these arbitrary affairs, without ethical codes, will only work for me? Why do you think that because of the color of the tie, you will not be on the cover every day", said Perović.
She promised, however, that in the next twenty days the proceedings related to the expensive watches of Đukanović will be completed, and she also announced that the former longtime director of "Plantaž" Verica Maraš was fined 1.000 euros for ignoring the Law on Prevention of Corruption.
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