CCE: Illegal selection of demonstrators at the FPN ended without correction of illegality and any accountability

The Center for Civic Education (CCE) announced today that it concludes that the case of illegal engagement of demonstrators at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Montenegro (FPN UCG) in the winter semester of the academic year 2025/2026, to which it has been repeatedly publicly indicated, terminated upon expiration of the engagement, without correction of the identified illegalities and without any liability.

"The documentation obtained by CCE through a request for free access to information confirms that the disputed decision has not been annulled, suspended, amended, or rendered ineffective. Although CCE sent an Initiative to the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Prof. Dr. Boris Vukićević, to suspend the execution of the disputed decision, "There is no indication that any body of the University of Montenegro or the FPN has reviewed the responsibility of the members of the Commission or the FPN management for the actions that the CCE previously argued as unlawful. In other words, instead of an institutional reaction and correction of the illegality, a model of silence and waiting for the disputed engagement to expire on its own was chosen. The decision made with significant procedural violations and incorrect application of substantive law, which for these reasons could not produce legal effect, was not removed from the legal order, but was implemented to the end, without any consequences for those who made it and enabled its execution," the CCE statement, signed by Snežana Kaluđerović, senior legal advisor, emphasizes.

The CCE statement states "that the selection of demonstrators was carried out contrary to the Decision of the Rector of the University of Montenegro, as the only valid legal basis, whose authority was also shaken, by applying unregulated criteria characteristic of the selection of teaching associates and accepting as a suitable person who does not have student status."

"Thus, the institute of demonstrator is abused and effectively equated with a teaching assistant, while students are denied equal access to a position that, by its nature and purpose, is intended specifically for them. When an institution violates its own rules, and then refuses to correct the outcome of such conduct and simply waits for the illegal engagement to expire, it sends a message that regulations can be circumvented without any consequences. In this way, illegality is not sanctioned, but normalized and turned into a pattern that future decision-makers can use whenever they want to circumvent the prescribed criteria. This relativizes the importance of the current rules, opens up space for arbitrary and interest-motivated appointments, undermines trust in the legality of academic procedures, and violates the principles of legal certainty, equal treatment, and accountability," the CCE statement reads.

The non-governmental organization (NGO) said that they are calling on "the Rector of the University of Montenegro and the University management to ensure that such practices are not repeated, and that the engagement of demonstrators in the future is consistently carried out in accordance with applicable acts and prescribed criteria."

"At the same time, we expect the competent authorities of the University of Montenegro to establish the responsibility of all those who enabled the disputed election and its implementation to the end, in order to protect the legality, integrity and credibility of the largest higher education institution in Montenegro," the CCE statement reads.