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
