Human Rights Action (HRA) participated today at a round table discussion regarding the Draft Law on Public Assemblies, organised by the Ministry of Interior.

HRA emphasised that the current version of the Law imposes excessive obligations to organisers of public assemblies, thus discouraging the citizens to enjoy this human right guaranteed by the Constitution of Montenegro. The draft law prescribes that the organiser should be objectively responsible (i.e. regardless of guilt) for damage caused by any participant of public assembly. This provision should be deleted because, apart from having a discouraging effect, it can be easily misused in practice.

Excessive is also the obligation of the organizer to provide medical and fire services. HRA highlighted that workers who wish to gather, for example, to protest against unpaid salaries are not in position to bear such costs. We believe that the state should have the obligation to provide medical assistance or fire service if needed.

HRA drew attention to the problematic formulation according to which it is possible to temporarily restrict assembly “near institutions secured by the police, if it interferes with undisturbed securing of these institutions”. Previous version of the Draft Law prescribed a temporary restriction at 10 meters from the building of the Government, i.e. sidewalks and green areas in front of the buildings of the Parliament of Montenegro, the President and the Constitutional Court. HRA believes that it is necessary to restore the wording previously prescribed by the Draft Law and add that such restriction shall apply only when these bodies are in session, as provided by laws in the region. Otherwise, the police would be allowed to broadly interpret the ”interference with undisturbed securing of these institutions”.

HRA is pleased by the fact that a part of proposals and suggestions HRA previously submitted regarding the Draft Law have been adopted, such as prescribing a damage test according to which the freedom of public assembly may be restricted if this is necessary and proportionate to the purpose for which the restriction was undertaken, as well as defining of unorganized, spontaneous gatherings that need not be reported.

HRA expects the working group, which will continue working tomorrow on the Law, to further examine and amend the draft law in accordance with the above and some other proposals HRA put forward today in order to allow for effective implementation of the right to free public assembly.

HRA team