In accordance with its legal powers, the Agency for Prevention of Corruption issued an Opinion on the Draft Law on the Government of Montenegro.

Due to the importance of the Government in the process of proposing regulations, the Agency is of the opinion that it is necessary to predict which materials the proposer of a law, other regulation or general act is obliged to submit to the Government in order to consider them. In this sense, the Agency underlines the need to consider the introduction of Preliminary control of Corruption Risks (with a list of 23 questions), as mandatory in the procedure for drafting the proposal of the law determined by the Government. Strengthening the anti-corruption assessment of the law as a strong preventive mechanism would further contribute to the reduction of the normative space for individual abuses, as well as the possibility of the emergence of systemic corruption.

What has been recognized on several occasions as a lack of regulations regulating the way the Government works, and as a recommendation formulated by relevant international sources, is the need to adopt a Code of Ethics with ethical principles and standards of conduct that all members of the Government should adhere to in the performance of their duties, as well as the establishment and composition of the body that would supervise its application and compliance.

The Code of Ethics itself should include issues recognized as risky in the sense of the actions of a public official, which may call into question his integrity and responsibility in the performance of his duties, especially those related to the definition of: guidelines on gifts and other benefits with clarification of the definition of "protocol and special gifts", clear rules and guidelines for the use of public resources for party activities and election campaigns, and the guidelines related to the revision of the immunity granted to members of the Government in order to "deny" such protection for criminal acts that are explicitly related to corruption.

The agency is of the opinion that it is necessary to translate GRECO's recommendation regarding the provision of the integrity verification mechanism (deputy) of the head of the prime minister's cabinet, as well as the appointed special advisers of the prime minister and the deputy prime minister, into a legal norm through additional elaboration of Article 45 of the Draft Law on Government, so that, in addition to the Code of Ethics, an adequate legal model would be provided on the basis of which the integrity of these persons would be checked during their employment. The goal of such a solution would be to regulate the issue of a potential conflict of interest, which, if not treated adequately, could lead to abuse of position.

When it comes to Article 20 of the Draft Law on the Government, the Agency is of the opinion that the Government whose term of office has expired should periodically, and until the election of a new Government, be the subject of a special audit by the State Audit Institution. It is necessary to ensure the highest possible degree of transparency of the work of such a Government, so that the space for possible abuses is reduced to a minimum. Also, the Agency is of the opinion that in Article 20 paragraph 3 of the Draft Law, in addition to appointments, it is necessary to include appointments and dismissals as actions that the Government whose term of office has ended cannot perform, because the management of the personnel policy of the Government in that capacity cannot be brought under current business.

On the other hand, the Agency welcomes the intention of the proponent of the Draft Law to regulate the way the Government works in emergency cases, at a telephone session, by defining what cannot be the subject of these sessions.

Finally, but not least, the transparency of the work of the Government, which is recognized in Chapter VI of the Draft Law, is imperative for every society that strives to achieve the highest democratic values, and a responsible move that indicates the intention of the law's proponents to enable the necessary level of transparency and participation of the interested public. , which in this way can contribute to the quality of the Government's work, all with the aim of ensuring that the policies that result from the work of this institution are the result of public interest, and that the space for favoring individual interests is eliminated.

The Agency uses the opportunity to appeal to both the proposer and the adopter of the future Law on the Government of Montenegro to take advantage of the opportunity and regulate all important issues related to the work of the Government with this regulation, but also introduce mechanisms by which the integrity of the holders of the highest functions of the executive power will be raised to the level that an orderly society must satisfy.