For the proposed criminal offense of illicit enrichment in connection with the performance of a public function, the asset threshold should be set at thirty thousand euros and the threatened prison sentences should be increased to eight and ten years in prison, the recommendation of the Action for Social Justice (ASP) to the Ministry of Justice.
As announced by the ASP, the public debate on the Draft Amendments to the Criminal Code of Montenegro ended yesterday, and within that debate, the Ministry of Justice proposed a new criminal offense of illicit enrichment in connection with the exercise of public office.
"This act would be part of a group of criminal offenses against official duty. According to the proposal of the Ministry of Justice presented at a public hearing, whoever, during the performance of a public function or the duration of obligations, acquires, transfers or conceals property that is clearly disproportionate to his lawful income and the value exceeds 50 thousand euros will be punished with imprisonment from six months to five years, and if the value exceeds 100 thousand euros, he will be punished with imprisonment from one to eight years," the ASP statement states.
They, as they stated, recommended that the threshold of 50 thousand euros be lowered to 30 thousand euros, because it does not seem justified to increase the threshold to 50 thousand euros for this criminal offense, which is related to public office, while a number of other criminal offenses (not only from the domain of criminal offenses against official duty) are tied to the amount of 30 thousand.
"Also, in order to have a stricter penal policy for this criminal offense and a stronger deterrent to its commission, the ASP recommended that the upper range of imprisonment for the basic form of the criminal offense be eight years, and for the more serious form of this offense (when the value exceeds 100 thousand euros) the prison sentence be up to ten years. The Ministry of Justice has provided within the framework of the new criminal offense that the property acquired in this way will be confiscated, as well as that property acquired, transferred or disposed of through persons associated with a public official will be considered to have been acquired for his benefit, unless proven otherwise," the statement reads.
They added that the Ministry has proposed an amendment to the Criminal Code in the part defining related persons, so that a related person to a public official will be considered "a relative of a public official in the direct line and collateral up to the second degree of kinship, a relative by in-laws up to the first degree of kinship, a married and common-law spouse, a partner in a same-sex life partnership, an adoptive parent and an adopted child, a member of a common household, another natural or legal person with whom the public official establishes or has established a business or other relationship for the purpose of acquiring personal interest."
"This criminal offense, if adopted, will be valid for some time to come. At the same time, many former public office holders, who have literally turned gray before our eyes (while our country has been devastated in various ways), will be able to enjoy their more or less visible millions without hindrance. Yesterday, the ASP also sent several recommendations to the Ministry of Justice for amendments to the Law on the Confiscation of Property Gains Acquired by Criminal Activity, which were also subject to public debate," the ASP statement concluded.
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