NGO "Komunica": Protector to initiate proceedings against the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral, cemeteries illegally registered there

Several cemeteries from the territories of the regional units of Danilovgrad, Podgorica, Cetinje, Bar and Nikšić have been illegally registered with religious organizations, according to the non-governmental association (NGO) "Komunica", which is why they today submitted to the Protector of Property and Legal Interests of Montenegro an Initiative to initiate proceedings to determine the ownership rights of cemeteries as public property in general use and to harmonize the registry with applicable regulations, the non-governmental organization announced.

They added that in cooperation with the STEGA organization and the Lawyers' Association of Montenegro, they filed a large number of criminal reports, based on an insight into real estate registers, which undoubtedly determined the existence of a large number of illegal entries that indicate the existence of criminal offenses related to unscrupulous work in the service and abuse of official position.

"The NGO 'Komunica' addressed the Protector of Property and Legal Interests, as the body entrusted with the performance of the public interest function in Montenegro, based on the fact that cemeteries, as special areas of public interest, are regulated in the Montenegrin legal system as 'local assets in general use at the disposal of municipalities' (Article 16, line 6 of the Law on State Property). The Constitution of Montenegro, in Article 58, paragraph 3, establishes that 'natural resources and assets in general use are state property', and accordingly, these assets (cemeteries) cannot be privately owned," states the statement of the organization, signed by the initiator of the NGO "Komunica" Vladimir Nikaljević.

They remind that the legal status of cemeteries, in addition to the Constitution and the Law on State Property, is also regulated by the Law on Communal Activities and (municipal) Decisions on the organization and maintenance of cemeteries and burials.

"Therefore, in accordance with the Constitution and applicable regulations, all cemeteries in Montenegro must be exclusively state-owned and cannot be privately owned, which means that they cannot be owned by religious communities or other private legal entities.

However, in the procedures for forming new cadastral operations in the late 80s and during the 90s, illegal registrations of local cemeteries were made to religious organizations without any legal basis. Namely, on the eve of and during the presentation of survey data, cadastral classification of land and determination of real rights to real estate, the acting Commissions, by ignoring the provisions of the laws that were in force at the time (the Law on Survey, Cadastre and Registration of Rights to Real Estate and the Law on State Survey, Cadastre and Registration of Rights to Real Estate), as well as the provisions of the Rulebook on the presentation of survey data, cadastral classification of land and determination of real rights to real estate for public inspection, i.e. without any legal basis, registered cemeteries to various subjects of church jurisdiction," the statement of the NGO "Komunica" states.

That is why, they add, they have provided the Protector of Property and Legal Interests with precise information about the aforementioned illegal registrations.

"The 'Communiqué' in the Initiative to the Protector precisely listed the real estate and ownership certificates, as well as the decisions of the commissions for presenting survey data, cadastral classification of land and determination of real rights to real estate, and other documents that served as the basis for the relevant registrations, which the Protector can additionally obtain or verify through official channels from the Real Estate Administration - Regional Units Danilovgrad, Podgorica, Cetinje, Bar and Nikšić," the statement states.

Based on the presented situation, the NGO "Komunica" said that they are requesting that the Protector initiate appropriate legal proceedings to bring the accounting status into line with applicable regulations.

"In this regard, it is requested that the Protector of Property and Legal Interests of Montenegro, before the locally competent Basic Courts, initiate proceedings - against the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and other legal (church) entities in order to determine the ownership rights to cadastral plots - cemeteries in the territories of the aforementioned municipalities.

At the same time, taking into account the fact that certain land and other real estate from state ownership is registered in the real estate cadastre to entities that do not have the status of a legal entity, and is outside the scope of the general or detailed urban plan, urban project or local location study, and in accordance with positive legal regulations should be registered in Montenegro, the Communique requests that the Protector of Property and Legal Interests of Montenegro, with the Real Estate Administration and locally competent regional units, request the deletion as owners of all entities that cannot be holders of property rights and other real rights to real estate consisting of cemeteries, and at the same time request the registration of rights in Montenegro - 1/1 ownership and 1/1 right of disposal in favor of individual municipalities or the Royal Capital," the statement states.

The NGO "Komunica" emphasized that they held consultations with a large number of professors, lawyers and jurists with the aim of determining in detail the responsibility and conducting proceedings against persons who illegally carried out or enabled the registration/transfer of cemeteries, as state property, to private legal entities. The consultations resulted in the aforementioned criminal charges, about which the public will soon be separately and fully informed, the organization said.