Only half of the ministries of the reorganized Government of Montenegro publish over 50% of mainly readily available information. The Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports as well as the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare proactively publish least information, even compared to the previous Government.
In the eve of the International Day for Universal Access to Information, and in order to determine whether and to what extent the ministries in the Government of Montenegro meet their legal obligation to proactively publish information, in early September, MANS conducted an analysis of the data available on their websites.
Despite the fact that the newly formed Government has committed to full transparency in its work, has emphasized the importance of eGovernment services for citizens, as well as the readiness to provide access to services and information electronically, the practice shows that even nine months later, there has been no significant improvement.
Namely, according to the review of the websites of 12 ministries, no ministry fully publishes proactive information in the manner prescribed by the law. Only six ministries publish over 50% of mainly readily available information.
According to the degree of proactivity in publishing information, the Ministry of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media, the Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management stand out as highly proactive ministries. By contrast, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare have the lowest level of proactivity.
That the ministries are aware of the importance of the Law on Free Access to Information, as well as the obligation to act under that regulation, is indicated by the fact that, except for the Ministry of Health, all clearly outlined a separate section regarding free access to information on their websites. However, no ministry has published all the information in any of the categories of data that the Law requires must be available.
Data on employees and their finances, as well as general legal acts, were mostly published. On the other hand, there is a continuation of practice of publishing least information on individual acts as well as reports and documents on the work and state regarding the competence of institutions, which are extremely important for detecting corruption, and which clearly indicate that transparency is not a priority in the work of the Government.
At the same time, comparing the previous Government convocation with the current one, the analysis shows that the basic information regarding the institution is published to a much lesser extent, or it is not updated properly. In this regard, all ministries have published Guides for Free Access to Information, but the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and the Ministry of Health have not updated them as required by the Law on Free Access to Information, while the Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights published the guide of the Ministry of the Interior on its website.
In addition, only 46% of the documentation crucial for detecting potential corruption, which indicates the availability of funds from public revenues and state property, including individual acts and contracts, is available to the public, while the previous government enabled a much higher percentage of availability of specific information.
The Ministry of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media made this type of documentation transparent to the greatest extent, while nine ministries partially published this category of information.
Only four ministries (the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, Ministry of Capital Investments and Ministry of Defence) contain certain contracts available in the specific category. On the other hand, five ministries do not have this category as a separate one under the section on Free Access to Information. Instead, two ministries (the Ministry of Economic Development and Ministry of Foreign Affairs) have made available certain financial documentation related to public procurement within the Free Access to Information, while the other three (the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare, Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights and Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports) published only financial statements, but not specific contracts.
Finally, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Health do not have any information or documents available on their websites regarding this category of information, which they were obliged to publish proactively.
Therefore, bearing in mind the low proactivity of publishing information, which greatly limits the monitoring of the work of institutions in the service of citizens, we remind the Government of Montenegro, which consciously or unconsciously continues the practice of predecessors, of the obligation to ensure transparency, accountability and legitimacy in the manner required by the Law.
