The complaint which illustrates the unfounded decision of an elder not to elect the best evaluated candidate for the job in National Archives, submitted on our website mojauprava.me confirms the previous findings of the Institute alternative (IA).
The interactive website mojauprava.me was launched by IA in late April, within the project ”State Administration in Montenegro – Equal for All”, financially supported by the U.S. Embassy in Podgorica.
First complaint submitted on the website refers to employment in the National Archives of Montenegro.
Candidate who applied for the job in this institution believes that director has violated the Law on Civil servants and State Employees by not choosing her for the position of Independent Advisor III, even though she was ranked first during the verification capabilities procedure, which comprised a verification of practical and theoretical knowledge and a specific skills of a candidates, carried out by specially formed commission.
Instead, the elder has chosen two candidates who took second and third place on the rank list, for the position which required two officers, and “ignored” the obligation prescribed by the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees to choose a top-ranked candidate. Also, in his decision, he has not provided a special explanation for making the exception of this rule, an obligation also prescribed by the Law.
The candidate submitted a complaint to the Appeal Commission, the state body responsible, among other things, for the protection of the rights of the employees and the candidates for the job in state authorities.
The Appeal Commission has ordered the cancellation of a decision of an elder, but after the repeated procedure and a new complaint, the Commission has founded that the reasons for the selection of the other candidates were eligible.
“The Appeal Commission refused my second complaint stating, among other things, that the reason for choosing the third ranked candidate because he has performed an internship at the National Archives was “eligible” (?!). If the main and only reason for choosing the candidate is a performed internship, the public announcement is just a farce, because all the other candidates are in advance in an unequal position, regardless of much better results”, states in the complaint.
This complaint, sent to us with the complete documentation, confirms the findings of our monitoring report on recruitment and promotion, conducted by the IA since January 2013 and the beginning of the application of the Law on Civil Servants and State Employees.
Our findings point out the abuse of an elder’s discretionary right not to select the best-ranked candidate, because this right is being often applied without explanation or with “flawed explanations”.
Among the most common mistakes is also an unduly favoring of the candidates who have already worked in the state authority. Such conduct is not founded in the Law, which upholds the so-called open position system, meaning that all vacancies are to be filled through a competition or announcement and not through promotion of civil servants and employees, which is the main trait of the so-called career-based system.
Milena MILOŠEVIĆ
Public policy researcher
