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On the work of inspectorates and the coordination mechanisms in the countries of the region

The cross-section of the work of seven inspectorates in Montenegro and the inspections coordination mechanisms in Croatia and Serbia were the topic of the second meeting we held within the framework of the project Inspections without protection: Allies in the fight against corruption.

On March 27, Institute Alternative organised the second meeting of representatives of inspection bodies, civil society, the judiciary and other institutions in charge of preventing corruption.

At the meeting, we presented an analysis of the work of seven inspection bodies whose work we monitor as part of the project. The analysis includes inspections that operate within the Administration of Inspection Affairs – Labour Inspectorate, Public Procurement Inspectorate and Health and Sanitary Inspectorate, and inspectorates that are part of the ministries (Administrative Inspectorate, Budget Inspectorate, State Property Inspectorate, Urbanism and Spatial Planning Inspectorate).

During the second part of the meeting, experts from Croatia and Serbia presented different work models and coordination of inspection bodies, especially from the aspect of strengthening integrity and anti-corruption mechanisms.

The aim of the meeting was to deepen the discussion about the current situation, the future direction of regulation of inspection supervision and adaptation of the legal framework to a more effective role of inspections in the fight against corruption.

The meeting was organised within the framework of the project Inspect to Protect: Turning Inspectorates Into Anti-Corruption Allies supported by the Embassy of the United States in Montenegro, the State Department’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).

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Over a Thousand New Employees in Municipalities in a Year

Over a Thousand New Employees in Municipalities in a Year – According to Data from the Ministry of Finance.

At the local level, the number of employees has increased by more than one-third over the past decade, despite no new responsibilities being assigned to the municipalities. What would happen to this number if we proceeded with process of decentralisation, a path the Ministry of Public Administration is confidently pursuing despite the obvious problems in municipal operations?

Out of 15,869 employees, more than half are in local public enterprises, a figure that the Ministry of Public Administration does not include in its list of public sector employees.

You can read more about how the employee database at the local level is not updated and how rarely anyone is interested in this data – here.

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The Government changes at least 85 laws with one law: Political decision made, debate just a formality

The Government and the Ministry of Public Administration should undertake the reform of inspection oversight only after conducting an analysis of the state and results of the work of the Administration for Inspection Affairs and inspections operating within ministries.

The process of decentralising inspections is a political decision. This  is confirmed by the Minister of Public Administration, Marash Dukaj, in response to our question as to why this process was initiated even though it is not planned by the strategic framework of public administration reform. A minister, speaking at a round table on the Draft Law amending laws regulating inspection oversight, stated that the Ministry of Public Administration only implements conclusions made collectively by the Government.

To remind, in January 2024, the Government adopted an information on inspection oversight with conclusions on the need for reforming the existing system and establishing a decentralised model. Short deadlines were set based on inadequate analysis of the state. As a baseline, conclusions from the Efficiency Analysis of the Administration for Inspection Affairs from 2021 were considered, without assessing the work of inspections operating within ministries. Meanwhile, the Government has published a Draft Law amending laws containing provisions on inspection oversight.

Although the Draft Law amending laws regulating inspection oversight predicts changes to as many as 85 laws, the Ministry of Public Administration claims that it is merely terminological harmonisation rather than substantive decentralisation of inspections. They argue that this solution can fit into all models of inspection oversight.

At the roundtable on this Draft Law, held on Friday at the ReSPA center in Danilovgrad, the Ministry of Public Administration stated that public consultation is not necessary for this law, nor is it necessary to conduct a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) because the changes do not alter the essence of the laws.

It was also mentioned at the roundtable that the Draft does not contain all the provisions that need to be amended, as after publishing the draft, ministries submitted amendments to the Working Group, which speaks volumes about the haste in this process.

At the round table, we did not hear adequate arguments for why the Government insists on this rushed reform before conducting all appropriate analyses and proceeding with the reform of inspection oversight in Montenegro based on those conclusions. Representatives of the media and other non-governmental ogranisations were not present at the round table.

Changes in the functioning model of state bodies are justified, but they must be implemented based on analyses, strategically planned, and in line with existing strategic goals in the field of public administration reform. Therefore, we call on the Government and the Ministry of Public Administration to approach inspection reform only after conducting an analysis of the state and results of the work of the Administration for Inspection Affairs and inspections operating within ministries, and then plan further activities accordingly.

Dragana Jaćimović
Public Policy Researcher

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Meeting with the President of the Security and Defence Committee

At the meeting held last week, representatives of Institute Alternative (IA), Dragana Jaćimović and Bojana Pravilović, presented IA proposals for improving the work of the Security and Defence Committee of the Parliament of Montenegro.

Institute Alternative has been monitoring the work of the Parliament and the Security and Defence Committee for years, so this was an opportunity to present some of our recommendations, such as the regular review of reports on the implementation of secret surveillance measures, and a control hearing on the functionality of the system for secure automatic data exchange aimed at combating crime.

We emphasised that the automatic exchange of data is a recommendation of the European Commission that has been repeated year after year, but we also pointed out that the Special State Prosecutor’s Office still does not have access to all databases. We highlighted that we believe it is important for this issue to be addressed at a session of the Security and Defence Committee in order to assess the current situation and identify any obstacles to the automatic data exchange between institutions that are signatories to the 2021 Agreement on Enhancing Cooperation in Crime Prevention.

Additionally, we stressed the need for the Committee to hold a consultative hearing on the personnel policy of the Police Directorate, particularly considering that the Ministry of Interior has not prepared a Personnel Plan for the past three years, and projections regarding the number of officers eligible for retirement are not publicly available. This hearing is crucial because personnel management in the Police Directorate is part of two separate strategic documents: the “Police Directorate Development Strategy for the period 2023-2026” and the “Human Resources Management Strategy in the Police Directorate 2019-2024.” The Committee should review the report on the implementation of activities from these strategies for the previous year and assess to what extent the measures proposed by the Government align with the earlier strategic priorities.

During the meeting, we also recalled the key findings from the analysis “Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Sector and the Process of European Integration,” pointing out the insufficient use of mechanisms such as institutional visits, requesting special reports, and reviewing laws and strategic documents in the field of security and defence.

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Changes to provisions on inspection oversight without public and clear arguments

Although the Ministry of Public Administration claimed in its official response to the Institute Alternative that it still does not know all the legal changes resulting from the abolition of the Administration for Inspection Affairs, in the meantime, it has initiated changes to 85 laws, without a clear explanation and violating public consultation procedures.

IA previously reacted to the hasty intention of the Government of Montenegro to abolish the Administration for Inspection Affairs, pointing out that it was not based on adequate analyses, the expose for the composition of the current Government, and the Public Administration Reform Strategy, and that it cannot be carried out without negative consequences within the specified short deadlines.

We also warned that the Government does not have the exact number of laws that need to be amended in order to decentralise inspections, even though their changes are required by February 15th.

In the meantime, following this process, we requested from the Ministry of Public Administration (MPA) a list of laws whose provisions need to be amended, in accordance with the Government’s conclusion. However, on March 12th, the MPA responded that not all ministries have provided the provisions that need to be changed, and those that have done so have done it partially, i.e., they have not indicated all the necessary changes.

Just three days later, the Ministry, in a procedure that constitutes a violation of the Law on Public Administration and by-laws on public consultation in the drafting of laws, publishes a Draft Law amending laws regulating inspection oversight and invites the public to a round table discussion.

Alongside the Draft Law, an impact analysis of the regulations has not been published, even though it implies a drastic reorganisation of inspection bodies, and raises other related issues, such as the “fate” and further use of the unified information system, which provides technical support for the implementation, monitoring of the effectiveness of inspection supervision, and risk analysis.

The accompanying explanation on one side is not enough to answer numerous practical questions and challenges. Additionally, the existing information about the process is filled with inaccuracies and contradictions. For example, the minister claimed on a public service Radio and Television of Montenegro show that over 170 laws need to be changed, while now the intention is to amend half that number.

Also, the claim that the current combined system of inspection supervision, according to which certain inspections are within ministries (the so-called sectoral principle) and the majority within a single body – the Administration for Inspection Affairs (the so-called functional principle), is unique in Europe is not accurate.  This, considering that, a combined approach to organising inspection services exists in Croatia, which is considered a good practice example in this area.

Considering the contradictory information about this process and the potential negative effects, we once again appeal to the Government and Ministry give up on violating laws and ignoring the public in making important decisions, which threatens to become a pattern of action for the 44th Government.

Attached is the decision of the Ministry of Public Administration on the request for free access to information IA.

                                                                                                Milena Muk
Institute Alternative

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IA proposals for improving the Government’s Mid-term Work Programme

Institute Alternative’s proposals for improving the Government’s mid-term work programme mainly focus on strengthening legal and practical guarantees for merit-based employment, the need for an overall analysis of the current inspection system, the application of anti-corruption mechanisms in the field of public procurement, and legislative changes regarding classified information.

The Government’s mid-term work programme, which was open for public discussion until March 9th, leaves too much room for interpretation regarding the objectives of individual proposed activities, despite efforts to define certain indicators of success at a general level.

We particularly recognise that certain activities, announced without previous transparency and prior analysis, such as the abolition of the Administration for Inspection Affairs alongside numerous legislative changes aimed at reorganising inspection supervision, are not reflected in the Draft Programme. We believe it is necessary to clarify the Government’s further plans regarding this area, which is not evident from the document, which only contains previously planned amendments to the Law on Inspection Supervision, submitted to the parliamentary procedure by previous governments.

Furthermore, the long-awaited Anti-Corruption Strategy is not included in the Draft Programme at all, despite the recent establishment of the National Council for the Fight against Corruption by the Government, with the aim of preparing this Strategy among other things. We believe that the document should clearly state the reasons and objectives for adopting the Strategy, especially in the context of the announced receipt of reports on the fulfillment of interim benchmarks for Chapters 23 and 24.

In addition to this general overview, in our comments, we have pointed out the need for amendments to the Labour Law that would go beyond the currently planned harmonisation with EU directives and standards, aiming to address the priority challenges and establish a merit-based employment system in the public sector. Among other things, the amendments should establish a rule of public advertisement; prescribe the duration of public advertisements for a minimum of 15 days; enable individuals seeking employment in the public sector to initiate proceedings or disputes if they believe their rights have been violated, without the restrictions currently existing in the Labour Law, which only apply to certain prohibited behaviours.

Moreover, regarding the planned amendments to the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees, we believe that their scope should be clarified and supplemented. Although this Law has been subject to continuous criticism from both the European Commission and the non-governmental sector, the Draft Programme does not contain clear reasons nor does it explain the planned scope of amendments, which are envisaged until the fourth quarter of 2024. A working group, of which a representative of Institute Alternative is a part, was formed over a year ago, but members were informed that improvements to regulations in this area would be made gradually, starting with urgent amendments insisted upon by the European Commission to tighten employment conditions, followed by broader changes, which would involve the introduction of competency frameworks for all levels of civil service and other more demanding changes. However, the current justification for activities does not recognise this gradual approach, thus confusing the Government’s approach to this important area.

Due to the importance of providing clear guidelines for further normative activities in this area, we have provided concrete proposals, based on previously conducted detailed analyses and risk assessments of corruption in public sector employment, the results of which and an overview of key challenges are available at the following link: https://mapa-rizika.me.

We have proposed to the Government to conduct an analysis of the effectiveness of inspections within ministries and the Administration for Inspection Affairs, according to the same parameters. Only in this way can an informed approach be taken to any potential reorganisation of inspections. Since the last comprehensive reform of inspections in 2011, the Government has attempted several times to assess the effectiveness of the current model, but with an approach that has been plagued by various methodological shortcomings, aimed at justifying the current balance of power and the interest of certain ministries in bringing inspections back under their auspices.

Considering that according to the latest report on public procurement, to strengthen anti-corruption tools in the field of public procurement, it is planned to link the e-procurement system with the electronic system of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption, we believe it is important for the Government to prepare information on the progress of this process and the necessary prerequisites for the integration of these systems.

We have also reminded of an earlier recommendation that through the Law on Classified Information, government bodies commit to preparing and publishing information on the number of documents, or information, classified within a certain period.