The Union of Municipalities supports Spajić's announcement of the adoption of a law on cemeteries

The Union of Municipalities welcomed Prime Minister Milojko Spajić's announcement of the adoption of a law on cemeteries.

"Since 2022, the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro has been submitting initiatives for the adoption of a special law on public cemeteries and burials, to which the previous two governments have not responded, so we support the publicly stated position of Prime Minister Milojko Spajić on the need to draft this important legal act," the statement reads.

They recall that the Union of Municipalities sent its last initiative on this occasion in August 2024 to the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Development.

"There is no substantive law regulating burial issues in Montenegro. The Law on Communal Activities, in principle, establishes that the maintenance of public cemeteries and burials is a communal activity, the performance of which is provided by local self-government units. However, due to the lack of substantive law regulating this extremely sensitive matter, in practice there are undefined or insufficiently defined relations regarding ownership/right to use a burial site, the right to burial in a cemetery, health aspects of burial, transportation of mortal remains of Montenegrin citizens who have died outside of Montenegro, financing the maintenance of rural and suburban cemeteries and other issues, which often results in court proceedings that are extremely painful for all participants," stressed the Secretary General of the Union of Municipalities, Mišela Manojlović, in explaining the initiative, adding that all neighboring countries have special laws regulating this matter.

She expressed the readiness of the Union of Municipalities, in accordance with the agreement signed with the Government, to actively participate in the working group that the Minister would form to prepare the draft law.

They remind us that Prime Minister Spajić announced on the social network Iks that this issue will be regulated through a special law on cemeteries.

"The relevant ministry will send an invitation to all interested parties and form a working group that will draft the law by the end of the year," Spajić announced two days ago.