News
Accountable public finances, Rule of law
Confidential Procurements far From Public’s Control (2): Army Keeps Everything Secret
It seems absurd, but when the Ministry of Defence purchases helicopters for 30 million euros – the public gets at least some basic information about it, while it is much harder to gain an insight into purchase of gym equipment, forklift or air tickets. Common to all these transactions is that procurement regulations and procedures…
Commentary for the MINA Agency on the Draft Law on Internal Affairs
Commentary on the Draft Law on Internal Affairs for the MINA Agency was given by our Dina Bajramspahić, representative of the IA in the Working Group for the Preparation of the Law on Internal Affairs. The Law on Internal Affairs has not yet been drafted and the working group is still working on it. Although…
Weak Results in the Implementation of Public Procurement
Public procurement system in Montenegro went through significant legal changes whereby new amendments do not contribute to the transparency, accountability and efficiency of this system, said Ana Đurnić at the conference “Challenges of Public Administration Reform in Montenegro”. The conference was organized by SIGMA – a joint initiative of the European Commission and the Organization…
The Director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption does not do performance appraisals
Contrary to the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees, the Agency does not do appraisals of its employees’ performance since the establishment of this institution. Therefore, rights of employees are violated by leaving it up to director to arbitrarily decide on their promotion or demotion, without basing it objectively in the performance appraisals. Contrary…
Unassigned Police Officers in Montenegro
The Montenegrin Police Directorate’s data shows that there are 179 unassigned police officers. But, according to data from the Institute Alternative, a think-tank from Montenegro, the number is higher, close to 300. A police officer in Montenegro does not have to work but can still receive a monthly paycheck—if he or she is unassigned. The…
Accountable public finances, Public administration reform
Press Release: Administration of the Capital City Does Not Know How Much It Pays for Lost Disputes
The Capital City rejected the Institute Alternative’s request for information regarding the number and value of ongoing court cases against the local government body, since the information as such does not exist. Institute Alternative requested from the Property Directorate of the Capital City to provide us with information on the value of the ongoing disputes…
“Our Administration” Network: 16 Organizations on a Mission to Advance Good Governance
“Our Administration” network counts three more members: Women’s Safe House, Lucha Institute and Ul-info. With them, we are expanding our expertise and bringing in fresh energy that will provide us new topics and research perspectives. Goals of the network “Our Administration” are to participate in independent monitoring of public administration reform and further strengthen civil society…
Accountable public finances, EU accession negotiations, Parliamentary program, Public administration reform
Judicial decisions must be respected
We deem decision of the Basic Court in Niksic, which today has passed a temporary measure to return Nikola Vukcevic into the Council of RTCG until completion of validity of the procedure, to be encouraging as it was previously carried out by the Basic Court in Podgorica in the case of illegally dismissed member of…
IA submitted an Initiative to the Council of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption: The Agency wants us to take its word
There is no possibility for the public to verify that the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption checks credibility of public officials’ declared assets, so we asked the Agency’s supervisory body to control its work in this important area. Institute Alternative has requested reports, records or official notes on the conducted controls of asset declarations…
Accountable public finances, EU accession negotiations, Parliamentary program, Public administration reform, Rule of law, Social policy
The Parliament Undermines the Legal System of Montenegro
The reaction of the Parliament of Montenegro regarding the decision of the Basic Court by which it issued interim order requesting the Parliament of Montenegro to reinstate Goran Đurović at the position of the RTCG Council member within eight days, until the completion of the judicial proceeding, is scandalous and represents an open attack of…
Accountable public finances, EU accession negotiations, Parliamentary program, Public administration reform
The Parliament Should Implement the Decision of the Court
We commend the decision of the Basic Court in Podgorica which establishes temporary measure that orders the Parliament of Montenegro to return Goran Đurović at the position of the RTCG Council member within eight days, until the judicial proceeding is completed, all in order to prevent consequences that cannot be compensated later on. We have…
Accountable public finances, EU accession negotiations, Public administration reform
Instead of spreading false news and polemic with NGOs, the Government should complete its work
We welcome the agreement reached at the meeting yesterday between representatives of the Government of Montenegro and RTCG regarding the signing of the 2018-2020 Broadcasting Services Contract. However, the public has the right to accurate information, so it should be specified that information published yesterday by the Media Directorate and Public Relations Department of the…