Out of 44 inspections, the current staffing level of inspectors is 70% of the planned capacity. Only seven of them are fully staffed, and there are no inspectors at all in inspections for state property, energy efficiency, cultural heritage, or geology inspections.
According to data for the 44 inspections operating under the Law on Inspection Oversight, Montenegro is missing 149 inspectors. The systematisation acts foresee 501 inspectors (including chief inspectors and coordinators), but only 352 are employed (70.26%). This does not include tax, customs, or judicial inspectors, who operate under their respective legal frameworks.
An analysis of human resources in inspection bodies reveals that despite the oversized public administration, there is a shortage of personnel in roles responsible for detecting irregularities in both the private and public sectors. The review of rulebooks on internal organisation and systematisation within ministries, agencies, and institutes showed that 44 inspections derive their authority from the Law on Inspection Oversight.[1] The data on the number of employed inspectors were gathered from publicly available sources and through freedom of information requests.
Out of the 44 inspections, only seven have fully met staffing requirements according to their systematisation plans: the metrology inspection, water inspection, thermal energy, and hydrocarbon inspections, labour inspection, sports inspection, and archive services inspection. Only three inspections have over 90% of their positions filled: the sanitary inspection and the health and safety at work inspection (90.91%), as well as the forestry, hunting, and plant inspection (92.31%).
Four inspections are completely unstaffed: there are currently no inspectors for state property, energy efficiency, geology, or cultural heritage. The systematisation plan foresees four inspectors for state property, two for geology, and one each for cultural heritage and energy efficiency.
The staffing shortage is particularly severe in eight inspection bodies, where less than half of the planned positions are filled.
Only 25% of positions are filled in the geodesy inspection, postal services inspection, and information society inspection—each of which currently has one inspector out of four planned.
Five more inspections have under 50% staffing compared to the systematised number: the inspection for railway infrastructure, transport, and cableways (33.33%), the budget inspection (37.50%), the cultural property protection inspection (40%), the inspection of foreign vessels and their crews (40%), and the agricultural inspection (44.44%).
There are also staffing shortages in the environmental inspection (57.14%) and the administrative inspection (60%). Montenegro also lacks urban planning- construction inspectors: the Directorate for Construction Oversight is staffed at only 54.39%, while the Directorate for Urban Planning Oversight is at 60%. It is important to note that with the entry into force of the Law on Construction of Structures and the Law on Spatial Planning on March 7 of this year, responsibilities were split between urban planning and construction inspectors. However, during the three-month transitional period, these inspections will be conducted by combined urban planning-construction inspectors.
In most of the remaining inspections, staffing levels range between 62.50% and 87.50%.
When discussing public administration reform and optimisation, it is necessary to take these figures into account, particularly from a human resource management perspective. Additionally, along with strengthening the capacities of inspection bodies, mechanisms for verifying the integrity of current and future inspectors must also be reinforced.
[1] Additionally, within the Ministry of Finance, there is also an audit oversight inspection, where the supervision is carried out by authorised officials of the Ministry of Finance, rather than inspectors.
Inspection Human Resource Capacities:
| Inspection body | Systematised | Employed | % |
| Metrology Inspection | 5 | 5 | 100% |
| Water Inspection | 9 | 9 | 100% |
| Labour Inspection | 26 | 26 | 100% |
| Sports Inspection | 6 | 6 | 100% |
| Archives Services Inspection | 3 | 3 | 100% |
| Thermal Energy Inspection | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| Hydrocarbon Inspection | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| Forestry, Hunting and Plan Inspection | 13 | 12 | 92.31% |
| Sanitary Inspection | 33 | 30 | 90.91% |
| Health and Safety Inspection | 11 | 10 | 90.91% |
| Public Procurement Inspection | 8 | 7 | 87.50% |
| Phytosanitary Inspection | 23 | 19 | 82.61% |
| State Roads Supervision Inspection | 5 | 4 | 80% |
| Educational Inspection | 14 | 11 | 78.47% |
| Veterinary Inspection | 22 | 17 | 77.27% |
| Health Inspection | 8* | 6 | 75% |
| Ministry of Defense Inspection | 8 | 6 | 75% |
| Marine Fisheries Inspection | 4 | 3 | 75% |
| Social and Child Protection Inspection | 7 | 5 | 71.43% |
| Road Traffic Inspection | 7 | 5 | 71.43% |
| Market Inspection | 58 | 41 | 70.69% |
| Tourism Inspection | 36 | 25 | 69.44% |
| Food Inspection | 21 | 14 | 66.67% |
| Civil Protection and Rescue Inspection | 9 | 6 | 66.67% |
| Electricity Inspection | 3* | 2 | 66.67% |
| Mining Inspection | 3* | 2 | 66.67% |
| Housing Inspection | 8 | 5 | 62.5% |
| Gaming Inspection | 8 | 5 | 62.50% |
| Directorate for Urban Planning Supervision | 10 | 6 | 60% |
| Administrative Inspection | 10 | 6 | 60% |
| Environmental Inspection | 14 | 8 | 57.14% |
| Directorate for Construction Supervision | 57 | 31 | 54.39% |
| Agricultural Inspection | 9 | 4 | 44.44% |
| Inspection of Foreign Vessels and Crews (PSC) | 5 | 2 | 40% |
| Cultural Property Protection Inspection | 5* | 2 | 40% |
| Budget Inspection | 8 | 3 | 37.50% |
| Railway Infrastructure, Traffic, and Cableways Inspection | 3 | 1 | 33.33% |
| Geodesy Inspection | 4 | 1 | 25% |
| Postal Services Inspection | 4 | 1 | 25% |
| Information Society Inspection | 4 | 1 | 25% |
| State Property Inspection | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Geological Inspection | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Cultural Heritage Inspection | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Energy Efficiency Inspection | 1 | 0 | 0 |
*including the Chief Inspector
Dragana Jaćimović
