Ahead of the announced new session of the Parliament of Montenegro, scheduled for tomorrow, 30 December 2025, for which the agenda has still not been determined, Human Rights Action (HRA) expresses serious concern over the violation of the principles of transparency in the legislative process.

Such practice, which opens the door to the rushed adoption of laws “at the last minute,” could easily include the Draft Law on the National Security Agency (ANB), which poses a particular threat to the human right to privacy.

We recall that this draft law was removed from the parliamentary agenda in July, together with the Draft Law on Internal Affairs and amendments to the Law on Public Assemblies, following serious criticism from NGOs and the opposition. However, it was never formally withdrawn from the legislative procedure. The Speaker of Parliament, Andrija Mandić, stated at the time that the draft laws were removed from the agenda in order to improve communication with the public and international partners.

However, no communication with the public has taken place regarding this draft law, no public debate has been held, and the public has not been informed of the opinion of the European Commission. The same applies to the amendments to the Law on Internal Affairs, which have nevertheless meanwhile been pushed through two parliamentary committees. In such a non-transparent environment, there is a serious risk that laws will be adopted which fail to meet human rights protection standards that Montenegro must fulfil prior to accession to the EU.

In light of the statements made by the Minister of Justice, Bojan Božović, that no law falling under the competence of the Ministry of Justice will be adopted without an opinion from the European Commission, HRA today requested that the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro and the Ministry of European Affairs of Montenegro publish the European Commission’s opinions on the Draft Law on the ANB and the Draft Law on Internal Affairs. The public must be given insight into the alignment of these draft laws with European standards, upon which Montenegro’s EU accession directly depends and which should represent the overriding public interest.

Putting the Draft Law on the ANB on the agenda of a parliamentary session whose content is not known in advance would constitute a serious violation of democratic standards. Laws affecting human rights must be adopted exclusively through an open, inclusive, and accountable process, in order to ensure compliance with international standards, Montenegro’s obligations towards the EU, and its commitments to international human rights bodies.