Changing the name also carries a criminal risk: The Council was warned to suspend activities to rename the "Radosav Ljumović" National Bank

The Secretariat for Culture of the Capital City has ordered the Council of the National Library "Radosav Ljumović" to immediately and without delay suspend all activities related to the change of the name of the institution, threatening that otherwise they will "take more rigorous measures within the framework of the already initiated administrative supervision", "Vijesti" has learned.

According to the same information, the Secretariat is of the opinion that the Council's decision to change the name to the "Marko Miljanov Popović" Library is legally null and void and has no legal effect, given that "by adopting this act, the Council usurped the exclusive jurisdiction of the Capital City of Podgorica", which is the only one competent to adopt and amend the founding act which, among other things, determines the name and seat of the institution.

The Secretariat also warned that any decision-making by any entity, outside the procedures prescribed by the Law on Memorials, "represents a gross violation of imperative regulations and entails criminal liability."

The Council of the National Library "Radosav Ljumović" in Podgorica made a decision at the end of February to change the name of the institution to the "Marko Miljanov Popović" Library. Three members of the Council voted in favor of this change - Novica Đurić, Emilo Labudović i Bećir Vuković, while the president of that body is Gorica Vukićević was abstained, and the employee member was justifiably absent.

Đurić proposed the name change, explaining that Marko Miljanov's contribution "to national identity, culture and literature provides full justification for one of the most important cultural institutions in the Capital to bear his name."

In recent days, since the public learned of the decision, the Ministry of Culture, several councilors, and non-governmental organizations have opposed this, pointing out that the Council can propose, but not decide on, changing the name of the Podgorica library.

Vukićević did not sign the decision.

The fact that the warning from the Secretariat for Culture reached the Council's address was confirmed to "Vijesti" by the president of that body, Gorica Vukićević, emphasizing that a session has been scheduled for today during which the members will be informed of the letter.

Vukićević also emphasized that, despite the fact that the Council supported the initiative to change the name of the institution by a majority vote at the end of February, she has not yet signed the decision.

"Although we have been reading reactions in the media regarding this decision in recent days, the Council has so far only received the position of the Secretariat for Culture. We have not officially received the positions of the expert services of the President of the Capital City Assembly, nor of the Ministry of Culture," said Vukićević.

She specified that during the Council session on July 3, the minutes of the session were adopted, during which the majority of members voted to change the name of the institution.

"And then I suggested that the Council cannot change the name of the library on its own, and that there is a prescribed procedure for that that must be followed. I also pointed out that the initiative should be forwarded to the Capital City Assembly for further consideration," emphasized Vukićević.

What does the Secretariat's warning say?

According to the document, which the editorial team has access to, the Secretariat for Culture warned the Council that the Law on Culture, in Article 16, includes the content of the founding act, and that, among other things, it determines the name and seat of the public institution. This, as stated, is also prescribed in Article 3 of the Decision on the Establishment of the Public Institution National Library "Radosav Ljumović" Podgorica.

The Secretariat also reminds that Article 36, paragraph 2 of the Law on Culture stipulates that changes to the name, activities and seat of an institution are made by the institution's founding act.

"Since these elements are established by the act of establishment itself, they cannot be changed by bylaws that regulate the internal work of the institution. Upon reviewing the legal status of the institution and official records, it was determined that the Assembly of the Capital City of Podgorica, as the sole legal founder of this public institution, did not make a decision to amend the act of establishment relating to the change of name, nor did it give consent to the change of name," the Secretariat emphasized.

According to the minutes, during the Council session on July 3, the library director Slavica Ilinčić She read out to the members the legal interpretation according to which "when the Council makes a decision to change the name of the institution, the founder - the Assembly of the Capital City - acts, but on a different legal basis - harmonization and alignment of the Statute with the Council's decision."

"This is a binding legal action for the Founder, there is no vote on it because it has already been legally validly voted on by the Council. The Founder does not confirm the Council's decision, does not analyze it or can change it, but rather exercises his own authority in amending legal acts," the minutes state as the legal position that Ilinčić read out at the session, but the minutes do not state whose interpretation it is.

However, the Secretariat for Culture points out that the provision of the Statute to which the Council refers - Article 18, paragraph 1, item 11 - can be interpreted exclusively as the right of the Council to make an internal decision on determining a proposal or initiative for a name change.

"But it cannot serve as a legal basis for making a final decision on the name change. By acting in the opposite way, the Council violated the general legal rule that an act of lower legal force (the Statute) cannot derogate from an act of higher legal force," the Secretariat concluded.