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Happy New Agency! – Establishment of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption in Montenegro

On 1st January 2016, when it was supposed to be fully operational, the Agency for Prevention of Corruption employs less than 50% of estimated number of its employees. Its premises are not adapted and other numerous preconditions for unhindered performance of its complex competences remain unfulfilled. During its establishment, several laws were violated, including the Law on State Audit Institution, the Law on Prevention of Corruption, the Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest, with the potential violation of several others. Additionally, even before it had started to work, controversies over appointments of director and one member of the Agency’s Council shed doubt on capacities of this institution to be independent and impartial anti–corruption body.

Other steps in the establishment of the Agency have also sparked many controversies. Its budget proposal is established in a minimum amount defined by the Law on Prevention of Corruption. The Director of the Agency has circumvented the Law, by excluding the Council and the Parliament from the preparation of the Agency’s budget. The budget categories are, to a large extent, determined “arbitrarily”, since the budget proposal was determined by the Government before the Council has adopted the Rulebook on internal organisation and systematisation of Agency’s job positions. Rulebook on internal organisation and systematisation significantly deviates from the suggestions of experts from the European Commission.

The interested parties have neither been consulted during the process of drafting bylaws from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice nor these bylaws have been presented to the public. All the required documents that the Council of the Agency was obliged to approve have yet to be adopted. The serious endeavour of developing automated system for data exchange between state authorities is still ahead the Agency.

Since his appointment, the director of the Agency has been constantly restricting the transparency of the Council’s work. Other obstructions are in place as well. Circumvention of the law, weak capacities, delays in execution of its administrative duties, as well as the established patterns of behaviour of the managerial staff do not give much hope that the new Agency can fulfil its task.

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Reaction of Institute Alternative to the press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration

On the subject of the response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (hereinafter: MFAEI) to our press release “The European Commission report on corruption at the local level is being concealed”, we wish to inform the public that Institute Alternative (hereinafter: IA) was informed about the stance of the European Commission (hereinafter: EC) on this issue in a response to our request delivered by MFAEI on 3 August 2015. In the response to our request for free access to information, it was stated that the reports compiled within expert missions are the property of the Commission, but that the EC shall decide separately on each case whether or not the report should be made available to the interested party. Accordingly, IA submitted the request to the MFAEI on 31 December 2015 seeking the report of the expert mission which relates to corruption at the local level. Responding to our request, the MFAEI informed us that the report is classified and under the designation “restricted” and that therefore we could not obtain it (the response of the MFAEI is available at the end of this text). Hence, we were not informed about the decision of the EC in this particular case, but only that the request is denied because the document is classified.

From the response stating “even though we knew that the report in question is not yet complete” is not clear whether MFAEI is in possession of this “unfinished work”. If the answer is negative, then in the rationale behind the decision should have stated that the Ministry is not in possession of the requested document.

Additionally, the MFAEI did not state in its response that the Commission was contacted, or that the EC has not denied our request, but stated that the document has not yet been completed. Finally, our reaction is driven by the question “Did you decide on the availability of the document which is not your property”, since such conclusion follows from the MFAEI’s response.

Following the MFAEI’s press release, we submitted another request to the Ministry seeking the EC’s stance regarding our previous request demanding the report on corruption at the local level because it was not delivered to us nor did we know it existed (the copy of the request submitted is available at the end of this text).

IA will continue to insist on the full transparency of the negotiation process. We will address relevant Montenegrin institutions, as well as the European Commission explaining why it is important to allow access to its reports, which would previously be redacted in order to ensure protection of personal data and information on ongoing investigations.

Jovana MAROVIĆ

Research Coordinator

Decision of MFAEI on the request of IA delivered on 13 January 2016 (available only in Montenegrin)

Request of IA submitted to the Ministry on 15 January 2016 (available only in Montenegrin)

 

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The Government has concealed the information on the state of play in Montenegrin municipalities

The Government has illegally classified and put under the designation “restricted” the key document on the position of public finances at the local level, thus concealing the data regarding the number of employees in municipalities.

We requested from the Government the “Information on the position of public finances at the local level”. This document was adopted in July 2015 but was not published on the website of the Government. We received the decision of the Ministry of Finance stating that the document is classified and put under the designation “restricted” in accordance with the legal provision allowing to state authorities to restrict access to information or part of information “if it is in the interest of security, defense, foreign, monetary and economic policy of Montenegro”.

This document does not only contain financial data on the position of local finances, unpaid obligations, outstanding debt, etc. It also includes the most relevant data on the number of employees in local self-governments, including public enterprises and institutions, and most likely the data on their incomes, as well. Although the data of this type was previously published by the Government, the newest document is not made available on its website. Even the Ministry of Interior does not refer to this document when presenting information on the rationalization of the number of employees in local self-governments in the Draft Public Administration Reform Strategy but presents outdated and inaccurate data from the Report on the implementation of the Plan of internal reorganization of the public sector.

How would making this Information available “significantly undermine” the interests of security, defense, foreign, monetary and economic policy of Montenegro is the question to which we do not have a logical answer, neither can they have one in the Government. The sole interest that may be affected by publishing this document is the political interest of certain parties whose representatives are heads of local self-governments because the disclosure of this data would show the extent of new employments and its impact on local budgets.

There is a prevailing public interest to disclose information that overrules all intentions of the Government in this case. The Law on Free Access to Information prescribes mandatory publication of any information that indicates to “corruption, failure to comply with the law, illegal use of public funds, and abuse of power by public officials”, which is the case with the Information on the position of public finances at the local level.

We must not consent to the most basic information on the state of play in local self-governments being concealed. Institute Alternative will initiate an administrative dispute in order to annul this decision and publish the Information, but we urge the Ministry of Finance and the Government to do this even earlier and to refrain from violation of the Law on Free Access to Information.

Marko SOŠIĆ

Public Policy Researcher

The lawsuit we filed to the Administrative Court against the decision of the Ministry of Finance (available only in Montenegrin)

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Press release: the European Commission report on corruption at the local level is being concealed

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (hereinafter: MFAEI) rejected the request for free access to information submitted by Institute Alternative (hereinafter: IA) thus preventing our access to the data on corruption at the local level prepared by experts of the European Union. The practice of concealing important information negatively affects public confidence in the institutions of the system which is already on the “shaky ground” and also unfavorably influences the overall activity in the area of fight against corruption.

Additionally, the decision of the Ministry by which this report was marked with the designation “restricted” represents a continuation of the practice of intransparency of the negotiation process and is not in accordance with the guidelines of the European Commission. As a response to the request for free access to information, the MFAEI informed us in August 2015 that the European Commission shall decide separately on each case whether or not the report should be made available. This interpretation by the Commission also affects the transparency of the process, but it is essentially different from the MFAEI’s response. Thus, not all reports are classified and under the designation “restricted”, but the European Commission reserves the right to decide on the availability of each report individually. By deciding independently on the report, the MFAEI brings additional attention to the content on the report, as well as to the pervasive corruption in Montenegrin municipalities.

IA once again underlines the importance of transparency in the negotiation process, in order to enable reaching best possible solutions and improving current practices within a highly participatory and open process. In addition, it is particularly problematic that access to the report was not granted to the stakeholders who participated in the meetings with experts of the European Union, as was the case with IA during the visit on corruption at the local level. We bring your attention to our analysis dealing with this problem which was published in September 2015 under the title “Negotiations between Montenegro and the EU: Data access for the privileged only”.

The European Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration should make available all reports drawn upon within expert missions, whereas personal data and information on ongoing investigations should be redacted. Otherwise, we will continue to ask ourselves: What does it say in the reports of expert missions which makes them classified and under the designation “restricted”?

Read also: The Government hides the data while Marković hides the truth

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How to enhance police integrity in Montenegro?

This policy brief is published in September 2015. It has been prepared in the frame of the TRAIN Programme 2015 (Think Tanks Providing Research and Advice through Interaction and Networking), which is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office (Stability Pact for South East Europe) and implemented by the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).

Police corruption is an international problem. Historically speaking, police misconduct has been a factor in the development of police institutions worldwide, but it is a particular problem in countries affected by war or war surroundings. That is also the case in Montenegro, where the political system transition in the 1990s has led to the establishment of close links between police officers and organised crime groups, high level of politicisation of the Police, and a decline in professional standards. One security expert goes as far as saying that the mafia has always collaborated with the local police, either openly or in secret.

When Montenegro was still part of the post-1992 rump-Yugoslavia, it was the Montenegrin police force that served as the Podgorica government’s muscle. Its ranks increased from 5.000 in 1997 to 18.000 in 2000, while the Army of Montenegro, as part of the Yugoslav Army, was under Belgrade’s influence. This situation has had a negative impact on the professional standards of police conduct, among other things due to the lack of proper police education of newcomers. Today, with a little more than 4.000 police officers, it still has the greatest number of police officers per capita in Europe.

At the same time, the Police Administration (PA) is one of the key authorities responsible for performing the most challenging task of Montenegro’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration efforts, which is to establish rule of law in the country. But this can only be done if the PA makes progress in combating corruption within its own ranks and if it strengthens the system for the promotion of integrity and professional standards.

The remedies for the lack of integrity and professional standards in police behaviour suggested in this paper depend on a set of contextual conditions, including political, cultural, and economic ones. The paper offers an analysis of the existing police integrity framework set by the Government and measures taken by relevant institutions, primarily the Ministry of the Interior and the PA, used to encourage and reward professional conduct by the police officers as well as to sanction misconduct.

This paper’s objective is to contribute to improving the functioning of the Police force in Montenegro by assessing the Government’s activities in enhancing police integrity and by proposing a new strategic approach. It also promotes the creation of a comprehensive system for minimising the possibilities for corruption and all other forms of misconduct by the police officers.

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Press release: Endangered transparency of wages due to a vast array of bonuses

The new Government Draft Law is unlikely to increase transparency of wages in public sector, considering the complex income structure and numerous data that opens the possibility of misuse.

The Draft Law on Wages of Public Sector Employees entered the Parliamentary procedure at the very end of last year, but not in a form that would eradicate the lack of wages policy.

What is interesting is that with the new Draft Law entering the Parliamentary procedure a list of exceptions to its implementation is expanded. Namely, the Law does not cover the employees at successful ‘’public companies”. Although the right to severance pay on retirement of state employees is reduced from two to one year, the Draft Law will not contribute to greater transparency.

The present chart shows that besides basic income, according to this formulated Draft, the employees have the right to various bonuses, while there is no clear explanation for an additional bonus on wages for employees with specific job positions dealing with organised crime, corruption, money laundering, terrorism and war crimes. What’s even more obscure is the difference between this bonus and other kinds of bonuses on basic income that is being distributed for certain positions.

Numerous confusions may occur in practice regarding the specificity of the subjects or specificity of job positions. It will all have a negative impact on transparency, equity and equality of implementation of policy wages of public sector employees.

At the Institute Alternative, we consider that it is necessary to motivate employees in positions dealing with the fight against corruption and organised crime. However, they can be motivated using more legally more precise and predictable channels, such as through appropriate categorisation of job groups and coefficients, and not using mechanisms such as special bonuses, which represent an additional possibility of arbitrary increase of basic income. Also, what is interesting is that with the adoption of this version, legal solutions adopted recently would be annulled. Different coefficients are foreseen for the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms and the Agency for Prevention of Corruption, despite the fact that Law on Anti-Corruption foresees equal wage for all heads of state authorities.

We have also insisted that the new Law deals with the variable part of the salary in a more adequate manner, which are salary bonuses intended for employees with excellent results and quality of work and which represent up to 80% of average salary. Namely, the quality of work should be evaluated with relation to existing regulation on evaluation of civil servants, in order to prevent arbitrariness in the distribution of variable parts of wages.

The lack of transparency in distribution of variable parts of salaries has also been criticised by SIGMA, the joint initiative of the European Commission and the OECD. The Report on the Principles of Public Administration in Montenegro, published on 13th of November by SIGMA, criticises the imprecision of the legal framework when it comes to variables by head of state authority or minister.

According to the data of the Institute Alternative, obtained within the project ‘’State Administration in Montenegro: Equal for all’’, supported by the Embassy of the USA in Podgorica, during 2014, the state authorities spent around 1.466 million EUR for variable parts of wages for employees, However, the key issue that we will follow up is the transparency of variable part of as well as the equity of its distribution among state authorities, as well as to what extent all employees are familiar with the criteria based on which their colleagues achieve excellent results and are rewarded for it. This is the only way the merit-based rewarding system can be implemented, and not based on subjective estimation of the heads of institution, who are not immediate supervisors of most of employees in public sector.

If adopted, the new Law will abolish the wage grade within which the ranks of civil servants and state employees are categorised. By doing do, the possibility of their promotion is abolished, which has so far only been possible in the higher wage grade based on two subsequent excellent work appraisal. This additionally confirms that it is necessary to analyse salaries within wider context of overall public administration reform and civil service system started in 2003. However, due to the lack of coordination and clear vision, as the European Commission stated in the recent report, Montenegro is only ‘’moderately ready’’ in this aspect.

Milena Milošević
Public Policy Researcher