The Government of Montenegro adopted today the Draft Law on Public Enforcement Officers, with the aim of improving the current normative framework regulating the status, powers and responsibilities of public enforcement officers and in order to achieve greater efficiency and legal certainty in the enforcement procedure.
The Government announced that the implementation of the Law on Public Bailiffs to date has pointed to certain problems and shortcomings related to the work of public bailiffs, which primarily relate to the determination of disciplinary responsibility and the manner of conducting supervision over the work of public bailiffs.
"The main intention of the proponents of the regulation is to improve the work of public bailiffs and the Chamber of Public Bailiffs, as well as to establish a clearer and more effective mechanism for supervising the work of public bailiffs, thereby contributing to transparency and accountability in their actions," the statement says.
The Government said that, in this regard, special emphasis has been placed on the normative specification of disciplinary responsibility and the supervisory role of the Ministry of Justice, in order to eliminate previously observed legal gaps in the procedures for controlling and sanctioning irregularities in the work of public enforcement officers.
"The adoption of this law will fulfill the obligation stipulated in the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Judicial Reform Strategy 2024-2027 for the period 2024-2025, defined within the framework of strategic objective 1 - Strengthening the independence, impartiality and accountability of the judiciary and operational objective 1.7 - Strengthening the system of disciplinary accountability of the judicial professions, as well as the activity stipulated in the Government Work Program for this year," the statement states.
At today's session, the Government also approved the Proposal for Amendments to the Law on the Royal Capital.
"In order to create conditions that would ensure smooth operation and continuity in financing the spending unit of the Royal Capital of Cetinje for the next year, in accordance with the Law on Budget and Fiscal Responsibility, it was necessary to amend the provision of Article 30 of the Law on the Royal Capital in such a way that the amount of 0,4 percent of the projected value of the current budget of Montenegro, the percentage allocated for financing the Royal Capital for exercising legally established competencies, would be increased to 0,5 percent, and the part of the percentage of 0,6 percent planned for projects would be reduced to 0,5 percent," the statement says.
This law, as the Government said, would ensure the regular fulfillment of current obligations and prevent additional indebtedness of the Royal Capital.
They said that one of the reasons for passing this law was the need to create conditions for evaluating and assessing all projects defined by the Law on the Royal Capital, not just those considered capital projects.
As they stated, Article 20 of the Decision on the Development of the Capital Budget stipulates that projects implemented in accordance with the Law on the Royal Capital, as well as projects implemented from EU donations, are not subject to evaluation and assessment in accordance with that decision.
"As a result, the Royal Capital was unable to finance projects in the previous period, such as projects to preserve cultural, historical and natural heritage and projects to valorize tourism potential, which also contribute to development and new jobs, because according to the aforementioned decision, they are not considered capital," the statement says.
Therefore, as the Government said, it was necessary to delete the decision that stipulated in Article 30, paragraph 4 of the Law on the Royal Capital that only those projects that meet the conditions pursuant to the act on the preparation of the capital budget can be financed.
At today's session, the Government also adopted a Proposal for Amendments to the Law on Misdemeanors.
"The amendments were made taking into account that the application so far has pointed to certain shortcomings and dilemmas that have arisen in practice, so it was deemed necessary to remove these doubts through amendments to the law," the statement says.
As the Government said, one of the reasons for adopting the Bill is to harmonize all provisions of the law with the incentive measures introduced by the latest amendments to the law, so that they can be properly developed, with the aim of their better and more efficient implementation in practice.
They said that amendments to the law are also being made to meet the goals of the Reform Agenda of Montenegro 2024-2027.
"The draft law has made changes in the form of expanding the scope of misdemeanor liability, tightening the prison sentence that can be imposed on a person convicted of a misdemeanor, increasing the range within which a fine can be prescribed, for a natural person and a responsible person in a legal entity, an entrepreneur and a legal entity, and expanding the areas (restrictive measures to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing and the insurance sector) for which a fine of double the maximum can be prescribed," the statement says.
It is stated that the Draft Law prescribes the possibility for inspection bodies, in exercising their powers and for the purpose of unhindered performance of inspection supervision, to request from the court an order to enter an apartment and other premises.
"Also, a change is being made regarding the execution of fines, namely that the fine will be considered fully paid if the person does not have a permanent residence or temporary residence in Montenegro or if he goes abroad for a stay, and there is a reasonable suspicion that he will thwart the execution of the imposed sanction, he must pay two-thirds of the fine without delay," the Government said.
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