In order to contribute to the conclusion of the Agreement between Montenegro and the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC), which would be harmonized with the legal order of Montenegro, Human Rights Action (HRA) today submitted to the President of the State and the Prime Minister concrete proposals for amending the text of the Agreement which was adopted by the Government on July 8, 2022.

With the aim of preparing the HRA Executive Director, Tea Gorjanc Prelević, for participation in the working group of legal experts, which was announced last week, HRA prepared these proposals with the participation of legal advisors: Tatjana Gogić, lawyer Veselin Radulović and Prof. Dr. Vesna Rakić Vodinelić.

Our proposals represent reasoned legal advice on how to harmonize the Agreement with the legal order of Montenegro and are not politically motivated in any sense.

The Government is obliged to conclude agreements in accordance with the legal order, which do not mislead either the SOC or the citizens on whose behalf the agreement is concluded.

Provisions of the Agreement that would deviate from the current legal framework would be null and void, and as such would not benefit either the state or the SOC.

HRA believes that, in order to protect human rights, it is necessary to change the provisions which:

• Guarantee public law competences to SOC;
• Promise that security measures in buildings and other premises owned by the SOC will not be applied without the consent of the church authorities;
• Restricts the right to appeal to the court in the process of making decisions of a disciplinary nature;
• Provides for religious education in a different way than the law.

Additionally, there is no reason not to correct other grave legal-technical omissions and repetition or paraphrasing of rights and obligations already regulated by the laws of Montenegro.

When preparing this proposal, we also considered the agreements of Montenegro with other religious communities as well as the agreements of the SOC with other countries in the region.