8 August 2022 –
Montenegro has become the 33rd country to sign the UNCAC Coalition’s Transparency Pledge, voluntarily committing to a high level of transparency and civil society inclusion in the second cycle of the UNCAC implementation review.
Montenegro was scheduled to begin its second cycle UNCAC implementation review, which covers articles on preventive measures (Chapter II of the UNCAC) and asset recovery (Chapter V), in 2019. The country visit took place on 29-31 March 2022 with the peer reviewers Estonia and Iraq, and with civil society involvement, and the government is currently answering the peer reviewers’ questions before drafting the final country report. See the country review documents as they are published here. Click here for more details on how the review mechanism works.
The Transparency Pledge was signed by Mr. Marko Kovač, Minister of Justice of Montenegro. In its signature letter, Montenegro also takes note of the UNCAC Coalition’s Guide to Transparency and Participation in the UNCAC Review Mechanism, which outlines good practices of civil society participation to ensure a transparent and inclusive review process.
Principles of Transparency
The Transparency Pledge covers the following principles, complementing the UNCAC Coalition’s guide which includes best practice approaches for promoting transparency and participation in the review process:
- We will publish updated review schedules for our country review
- We will share information about the review institution or the coordinator (focal point)
- We will announce the completion of the country review indicating where the report can be found
- We will promptly post online the self-assessment and the full country report in a UN language, together with the executive summary in local languages
- We will organise civil society briefings and public debates about the findings of the report
- We will publicly support participation of civil society observers in UNCAC subsidiary bodies