Country: Montenegro
Website: www.institut-alternativa.org
Focal Point: Ana Đurnić, Public Policy Researcher
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Tel: +382 69 615 512
Mission and vision
Our mission is to contribute to strengthening democracy and good governance through research and policy analysis as well as monitoring of public institutions performance, while our vision is accountable, transparent, effective and efficient public administration.
General description of the CSO work in the anti-corruption area
Enhancing anti-corruption policies and their implementation is an over-arching objective in our work. In the security and defence sector, our focus is on the integrity of the police service, of the National Security Agency, as well as ensuring cooperation between the law enforcement and prosecution, and maintain the integrity, independence and efficiency of the judicial system. In the area of public administration and accountable public finances, we particularly advocate for: de-politicization, an increase of managerial accountability and transparency, and a decrease in discretionary rights which often allow room for abuse of public resources.
Specific description of the CSO work in relation to the UNCAC
A significant number of our recommendation regarding draft laws on the Supreme State Prosecution and on the Criminal Procedure Code have been adopted, where we were advocating for legal solutions based on best comparative practices and institutional models. We also undertook qualitative research in the area of cooperation and communication between the Police and Prosecutor’s Office. In 2015 and 2016, we conducted comprehensive research on police integrity, with a special focus on human resources management in Police Administration, financial management and internal and external control of the police. Since its establishment, we closely follow the work of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and monitor the sessions of its Council. As such, our activities are closely linked with the UNCAC and are in line with its principles, given our track-record in advocating for stronger role of CSOs in monitoring and enhancing anti-corruption policy.
Specific description of the CSO work in relation to the review mechanism of the UNCAC
Montenegro signed the UNCAC in 2006, and harmonisation of the Montenegrin legal framework with the Convention has been ongoing ever since. The year 2015 was especially important since two new anti-corruption institutions were established: The Special Prosecutor’s Office (SP) for the fight against corruption and organised crime, and the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption. As mentioned, activities of IA are focused on anti-corruption policies and institutions, which increased after 2015 due to the enacted changes of the anti-corruption institutional framework. Research activities of IA will continue to particularly focus on: monitoring the work of these two institutions; strengthening their capacities in combating corruption and implementing measures and principles defined in the Convention; mapping potential problems in the existing legislative framework and concrete policy initiatives; and continuing our work in policy analysis and evidence-based research. We participated in the working group for preparation of the Law on the Special Prosecutor’s Office, and throughout 2016 we have monitored the sessions of the Council of Agency for the Prevention of Corruption. Our most recent project aims at influencing three burning issues concerning the fight against corruption in Montenegro: poor reporting and monitoring mechanisms, weak anti-corruption institutions, and lack of available information about the shortcomings of their functionality.