Montenegrin institutions and representatives of civil society organizations, joined the “Round table on the Law on Prevention of Corruption: asset declarations and prevention of conflict of interest”, organized on 23 September 2022, in Podgorica, Montenegro.

To inform the Roundtable discussions, the Action had produced an analysis of asset declarations and prevention of conflict of interest in the Law on Prevention of Corruption, which informed the discussions. The analysis aimed at assessing the adequacy of the legal definitions and procedures included in the Law, as well as the challenges in their implementation and potential solutions for increasing the effectiveness of the legal framework.

In the discussions that followed, participants concluded that, while the Law features a number of progressive provisions on topics of relevance for the effective management of asset declarations and prevention of conflict of interest, some of the legal requirements could be clarified and reinforced. Many of those opportunities for improvement formed part of the legal analysis developed by the Action, which identified three priority areas for reform, and proposed 60 recommendations that would improve the effectiveness of the Law.

This activity represents the second step towards comprehensive revision of the Law on Prevention of Corruption that the Action has been supporting since the beginning of 2022. The first phase of this process included the review and recommendations related to the regulation of the position, mandate and powers of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption. The expected third step will be devoted to strengthening the provisions on protection of whistle-blowers and integrity assessments.

The Round table was organized within the framework of the EU/Council of Europe Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey Phase II – Action against Economic Crime in Montenegro (AEC-MNE).