WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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SOURCE: ANTENA M -AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
STEGA sent an open letter to the Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, requesting that the entire Montenegrin public be provided with answers regarding the amendments to the Law on State Property regarding the change in the status of cemeteries and their property-legal regime.
Starting from the fact that to date, as they say, there has been no response from the Prime Minister, STEGA has informed the embassies of the Quinte countries in Podgorica (USA, Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany) of the subject matter in its letter.
"In this regard, STEGA informed the aforementioned embassies about the planned amendment to the Law on State Property and that it is intended to circumvent the application of Article 58, paragraph 3 of the Constitution of Montenegro, which refers to the property regime of "natural resources and goods in general use" for cemeteries.
STEGA will also soon inform the embassies of other EU member states, as well as other relevant international organizations, about the legal and other consequences that such hasty and without any legal analysis, amendments to the Law may have.
STEGA reminds that according to Article 16, paragraph 1, indent 6 of the current Law on State Property, "cemeteries are local goods in general use that are at the disposal of municipalities". This means that all cemeteries in Montenegro are exclusively state property, so according to the Constitution of Montenegro, it is not possible for them to be objects of private property. This means that they cannot be owned by religious communities or other private legal entities, unless the illegal entries were made through criminal and illegal actions," Stega states.
By accepting the NSD amendment, the Government, they say, has, in an extremely non-transparent manner and without any public debate on this very sensitive and complex issue, envisaged a change in the legal status of cemeteries in such a way that cemeteries, as "local assets in general use" that are exclusively state property, will be treated as "other local assets of general interest", which creates the basis for changing the property and legal regime of cemeteries, as established in Article 58, paragraph 3 of the Constitution of Montenegro and Article 16, paragraph 1, indent 6 of the Law on State Property.
"STEGA once again calls on the Prime Minister to withdraw the proposed changes from the procedure, to organize a public debate in which the academic community and NGOs would be included, and to show in this way that there is no "hidden and bad intention" behind the proposed changes and that he understands the gravity of the consequences that the changes to the law would have ownership of cemeteries of the Prozvels," they conclude in the statement.
Below, Antena M and GERMAN DAILY NEWS US exclusively publishes a letter that STEGA sent to the embassies of the Quinte countries.
Your Excellencies,
Esteemed Ambassadors,
With this letter we would like to bring to your kind attention and consideration our concerns
related to the Law on Amendments to the Law on State Property that the Government of Montenegro has recently proposed, thus accepting the amendment (proposed by the party New Serbian Democracy), which intends to change the current property and legal regime of cemeteries by changing their status.
In this regard, we would like to underline that the proposed amendment to the Law on State Property seeks to circumvent implementation of Article 58, paragraph 3 of the Constitution of Montenegro, which refers to the property regime of “natural resources and goods in general use”.
In connection with the above, we would like to provide the following explanation:
- The Constitution of Montenegro in Article 58, paragraph 3 establishes: “Natural resources and goods in general use are state property.” Accordingly, these goods cannot be privately owned.
- Pursuant to Article 16, paragraph 1 of the current Law on State Property, “cemeteries are local goods in general use that are at the disposal of municipalities”. This means that all cemeteries in Montenegro are state-owned, so according to the Constitution of Montenegro it is not possible for cemeteries to be objects of private property. This also implies that cemeteries cannot be owned by religious communities or other private and legal entities.
- By accepting the amendment, the legal status of cemeteries would be changed in such a way that cemeteries, as “local assets in general use at the disposal of the municipality”, are treated as “other local assets of general interest at the disposal of the municipality”. This creates a legal basis for changing the property ownership and legal regime of cemeteries, as “assets in general use”, established in Art. 58, paragraph 3 of the Constitution of Montenegro and Art. 16, paragraph 1 of the Law on State Property.
- The proposed term “cemeteries in municipal ownership” covertly introduces cemeteries that are not in municipal property into the legal system of Montenegro. This is unacceptable and reveals the true intention of the amendment - introducing the assumption that cemeteries can also be privately owned, or church property, or property of other religious communities. This is intended to further endorse earlier illegal registrations of property rights in the name of religious organizations and communities.
- We especially emphasize that the explanation of the amendment, which states that “the use of cemeteries is not carried out without special permits and approvals from the competent authorities”, actually seeks to hide the essence of the amendment, which is the change of the ownership regime of cemeteries from the regime of exclusive and only possible state ownership to the regime of private, or church ownership.
Additionally we would like to underline that the term “use of cemeteries” is much broader than the meaning given to it by the amendment. The use of cemeteries implies, first of all, the right of citizens to visit the graves of their loved ones, which is available to everyone under equal conditions and without special permits and approvals from the competent authorities. This type of use is everyday, massive and the most common.
The fact that some types of use require the consent of the competent authority does not, in itself, call into question the general rule that these goods are available to everyone under equal conditions (Article 10, paragraph 1, item 10 of the Law on State Property).
After all, for some other goods in general use, the legislator often requests and introduces some types of use with appropriate permits and approvals, which does not call into question their status as goods in general use! Such “goods in general use” are, for example: airspace, roads, airports, ports, water supply and sewage infrastructure, public and green areas, etc. Permits and approvals can and do apply to some types of their use, but this does not change their legal status as goods in general use. Therefore, the question is: why the legal status should be changed only for cemeteries?
The proposed amendment seeks to change the status of cemeteries in a legally impermissible and fraudulent way from the status of goods in general use (which are exclusively state-owned) to the status of goods of general interest that may also be privately owned.
We hereby request that the Government withdraws this amendment due to the extremely large number of negative and very dangerous consequences. On January 17, as an informal civic association gathered to draft the Strategy for a European and Civic Montenegro (STEGA), we have addressed Prime Minister of Montenegro Mr. Milojko Spajić with an open letter, that has remained unanswered. STEGA called on Prime Minister to consider the essence of the amendment and the consequences of the Amendments to the Law on State Property and withdraw the amendment in question from the parliamentary procedure. Otherwise, cemeteries will become exclusively mono-ethnic and mono-religious, and will be owned by private individuals and religious organizations.
At the same time, we publicly warned and called on citizens not to allow the existing property and legal regime on the graves of their deceased to be changed and to monitor the actions of the Government and the Parliament on this issue with the greatest concern.
In order to raise public awareness and urge Prime Minister to withdraw the amendments to the Law on State Property from further procedures, STEGA, the NGO “Komunica” and the Association of Lawyers of Montenegro have recently organized conference "Change in the Ownership Status of Cemeteries".
On this occasion, the Montenegrin diaspora from the United States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand spoke out, underlining that cemeteries are the most intimate albums of our origin, national pride and of heroism, martyrdom and sacrifice. In a public address, they said that they would not allow a change of status, because cemeteries are Montenegrin sanctuaries where our ancestors, the greatest Montenegrin heroes, bishops and rulers rest, and because cemeteries are our spiritual register of all our suffering, hunger, torture, and honorable life. Diaspora warned Prime Minister Mr. Spajić that the possible adoption of Amendments to the Law on State Property would have far-reaching consequences expressed through general rebellion, protests and blockades throughout Montenegro. Diaspora also appealed for the highest attention of the Montenegrin public, the European Commission, Quinta ambassadors and all other relevant international organizations to this concerning issue.
It is everyone's obligation not to disturb the tranquility and eternal peace of our deceased, to ensure that cemeteries are not subject to daily political abuse, and to ensure that divisions do not reach our graves.
Sincerely,
STEGA
