Public administration reform

Without an HR plan, There is no Precise Data on the Police Directorate’s Personnel

It has been a month since the 2024 budget was adopted, so the Ministry of the Interior and other state bodies should already have prepared HR plans for the current year. The HR plan is an important document as it provides an overview of the number of employees in the ministry, including the Police Directorate,…

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Public administration reform

Flights of ministries below the radar: Direct procurement of airline tickets

Some ministries evade the obligation to initiate a public procurement procedure for airline tickets for official travels, even though they spend more than 5,000 euros annually on them. As a result, they directly and non-transparently transfer the money to travel agencies through direct agreements. In 2022, the Ministry of Science and Technological Development allocated more…

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Accountable public finances

IA meetings with prosecutors on corruption in public procurement

Institute Alternative (IA) held a series of closed meetings with representatives of the prosecution, where we discussed the issues and actions of the prosecution in cases related to corruption in public procurement. Over the past months, we met with representatives of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office, and the basic state prosecutor’s offices in Podgorica and…

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Public administration reform

Establishing cooperation: IA meeting with Budget Inspection representatives

On January 26th, Institute Alternative held a meeting with representatives of the Budget Inspection in order to establish cooperation and gain a better understanding of their everyday work. During the meeting, we discussed our findings regarding the work of the Budget Inspection, the process of planning supervision, and the development of the annual work programme.…

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Public administration reform

To abandon hasty abolition of the Administration for Inspection Affairs

The Government’s intention to hastily abolish the Administration for Inspection Affairs is not based on adequate analyses, on exposé for the composition of the current Government and the Strategy for Public Administration Reform, and it can not be carried out without negative consequences within the stipulated short deadlines. The information, which was discussed on January…

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Public administration reform

Direct Procurement Under Spotlight of State Audit Institution

The State Audit Institution (DRI) adopts the proposal of Institute Alternative and initiates an audit of simple procurements through direct agreement. The State Audit Institution (DRI) has adopted one of our proposals and included the audit of the section “Simple procurements through direct agreement” in the DRI’s Annual Audit Plan for 2024. By proposing this…

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Public administration reform

Overview of challenges for inspections in the fight against corruption: Conclusions and recommendations from the IA meeting

Read conclusions and recommendations from the first meeting organised by IA between inspections and other organisations and institutions relevant to the fight against corruption: Conclusions and Recommendations from the IA meeting: Inspections in the Fight Against Corruption Meeting is part of our efforts to strengthen the anti-corruption role of inspections, within the project  Inspect to…

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Accountable public finances, Public administration reform

Direct and without competition – Procurement in public enterprises

State-owned enterprises are violating the Public Procurement Law by exceeding the limits on the use of less transparent procedures for the same procurement subject, as shown by the research of the Institute Alternative on the use of direct agreements during 2022. The Public Procurement Law does not limit the use of the direct negotiation mechanism,…

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Parliamentary program

Parliamentary Committees: Between the Two Governments

IA continued to monitor the work of five parliamentary committees from October 2022 to October 2023. This period was characterized by uneven intensity in the committees’ work and the absence of adopted work plans for the current year. Check out these and other data in our infographic:   

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Public administration reform, Rule of law

Security clearance procedures in the Police

Security obstacles for further work were determined for 16 police officers.   The Commission for Checking Security Obstacles of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has determined this since its formation on May 10, 2022. According to the Law on Internal Affairs, security obstacles for further work in the police profession exist if an individual: Maintains…

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Public administration reform

Disciplinary Procedures in the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP)

The Disciplinary Commission of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Montenegro identified the responsibility of police officers in 16 cases during the year 2022, while in 7 cases, police officers were acquitted of disciplinary responsibility. This Commission is responsible for conducting procedures for serious violations of official duty. The report from this commission does not…

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Public administration reform

A call to prevent further undermining of local-level recruitment

The members of the new parliamentary majority have decided to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors and ignore clear warnings from the European Commission, once again proposing amendments to the Law on Local Self-Government that lower recruitment conditions.   We also remind you that the same amendments were proposed last year, which, among other…

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