The heated and at times very emotional public debate on the Draft Decision on Urban Sanitation for Illegally Built Structures in Žabljak showed deep dissatisfaction among citizens with the proposed legalization prices, with messages that the law must be respected, but that at the same time the permanent population must be protected and additional closure of already deserted villages must be prevented.
A large number of citizens have disputed the amount of fees envisaged in the draft, assessing that they are too high for the local conditions. One of the elderly locals said that he built a house in the village of Javorje back in 1989 and warned that maintaining such prices would be "reprehensible."
"With what pretense did you set such high prices? The municipality of Žabljak is the most expensive in Montenegro on this basis. Do you see what you are doing to innocent people? Should you suffocate already empty villages with such decisions," he asked.
One of the participants in the discussion said that he was in favor of respecting the law, but that it must be in the interest of the citizens. He emphasized that permanent residents cannot be put in the same position as weekend residents and assessed that the municipality entered this business unprepared.
"We need to take care of the locals and help the few residents who live here permanently. The municipality does very little for the citizens," he said.
The price for villages in the third zone caused particular outrage. One citizen stated that in the village of Mala Crna Gora, the proposed price was 113 euros per square meter, even though that village, he claims, is cut off for up to six months due to snow and without electricity.
"In Little Montenegro, 113 euros per square meter is scandalous. The locals have no income, and many have brought water, electricity and roads at their own expense. We are demanding the return of the fourth zone," he said.
Citizens have repeatedly asked what they are getting in return. One of them asked for a specific deadline within which the local government is obliged to provide sewage and pave access roads after legalization, but he did not receive an answer to that question.
"What do you offer to people in the countryside and what infrastructure can you bring and when? On what basis do you take money from them," asked another participant in the discussion.
One of the citizens also referred to the provision on a 90 percent reduction for members of the Roma and Egyptian population, and asked the mayor how citizens could "reorient themselves to Roma or Egyptians" in order to obtain this discount.
Another citizen asked the members of the working group what criteria were used to determine the prices and whether it was possible for the reduction to go up to 90 percent in other cases, but he did not receive a precise answer to that question.
The President of the Municipality of Žabljak, Radoš Žugić, assessed that the proposed prices are high, but that a compromise should be found that will satisfy both the interests of the citizens and the interests of the municipality.
"The buildings will not be legalized for four euros, as per the previous decision. Žabljak is flooded with illegal construction and the prices so far have been miserable," said Žugić.
He added that different pricing for the domicile population could be assessed as discrimination and fall foul of the Constitutional Court, but announced that, at the request of citizens, a fourth zone would be introduced.
Working group member Vukica Lalović from the Secretariat for Urban Planning said that a significant price reduction would put those who built legally at an unequal position, but stressed that the proposed document "is not holy scripture" and that corrections are possible. She confirmed that the fourth zone will be included in the final proposal.
When asked about the criteria for determining prices, Lalović said that she was sorry that she could not answer in more detail because her colleague in economics, who did the calculations, resigned and was not present at the discussion.
According to the draft decision, the fee per square meter is 146,27 euros in the first zone, 128,64 euros in the second and 113,26 euros in the third zone. The fee is reduced by 50 percent for primary housing facilities, while a 90 percent reduction is provided for single parents, persons with disabilities, young people without parental care, families with children with developmental disabilities, as well as members of the Roma and Egyptian populations. An additional discount of 15 percent is provided for a one-time payment, and payment in installments is also possible - up to 120 months for primary housing and up to 60 installments for other facilities. In the case of payment of the fee in installments, the owner of the illegal facility has the right to request at any time that the remaining debt for the fee be paid in a lump sum, in which case he or she is entitled to a reduction in the remaining amount. The urban rehabilitation fee for a hotel, or a four- or five-star tourist settlement and tourist resort is paid in a lump sum or in a maximum of 60 equal monthly installments specified in the owner's request in the amount of 800 euros per square meter of built-up area.
Two members of the working group attended the discussion, while the other members – Goran Vujić, Chief Administrator Veselin Joksimović and Nikola Dubljević – have since resigned.
Lawyer Nina Radulović, who attended the public hearing, although she claims that not a single illegal building has been built in Žabljak, assessed that the entire legalization process is problematic from a constitutional perspective. She claims that legal certainty has been violated, that the state is trying to collect claims that it cannot collect through the courts, because they have long since become statute-barred, and that citizens are denied the right to judicial protection because in the legalization process they are required to sign in advance that they will not initiate disputes.
She announced the submission of an initiative to the Constitutional Court to assess the legality of the Law on Legalization, highlighting the problem of retroactive application of regulations, as well as the fact that, in the absence of an urban plan, the issue is regulated by a municipal decision, which she considers legally untenable.
"The general rule in law is that every obligation and claim becomes statute-barred within ten years, even if you obtain a legally established claim, and if you do not implement it within ten years, it becomes a natural obligation and cannot be collected by force. Since this is about the legalization of a huge number of buildings that are older than ten years, because unfortunately we do not have a functioning rule of law since the nineties, we have illegal buildings that are 15, 20, 30, or 40 years old. This is an attempt to collect claims that have long been a natural obligation and their collection through the court is not possible. In my opinion, this is a violation of the legal system. We do not have such treatment anywhere in Europe, because no matter how well their systems seem to us, they still have incidents of illegal construction there, and if the state does not react within that statute of limitations, the claim cannot be collected," Radulović told Vijesti.
She also pointed out that citizens' right to judicial protection has been annulled because in the legalization process they have to sign in advance that they will not seek judicial protection on any grounds related to the legalization process.
"One of the basic principles is the right of citizens to judicial protection. There is also a big issue of retroactive application of the law, which is only possible in exceptional cases. So is there something that has been a chronic condition in Montenegrin society for the last few decades such that retroactive application of the law is necessary," said Radulović.
In Podgorica, there are already lawsuits filed in regular courts by owners of illegal buildings.
"Even the owners who built on someone else's land have the right to judicial protection and their constitutional rights have been violated. Among other things, they were given an excessively high price for land purchase because that price was set in relation to urbanized land, and one of the basic rules has also been forgotten: when building on someone else's land, the price of the increased construction price is not paid, but the market price that was before construction. This law is very, very problematic from all possible aspects, and only when it comes to municipal decisions in a situation where there is no urban plan for entire areas, a legal act that is at the level of a law is resolved with the lowest general legal act, such as a decision, which is unsustainable. The law should be put out of legal force. This anarchy and chaos in construction cannot continue, but this is not a solution," said Radulović.
The public debate ended without a final agreement on positions, but with the local administration announcing that it would consider citizens' objections before sending the decision for further procedure.
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