PAR Principles Mainstreaming in Sectoral Policies – Report for Montenegro

About publication

Authors: Milica Zindović, Snežana Kaluđerović

Publishing year: 2022.

Employment in public institutions in Montenegro is regulated by the Labour Law, the Law on Civil Servants, and other special laws, depending on the sector in which the employment is performed.

The subject of this analysis is the legal framework and the manner of employment, i.e. the election of directors of public institutions in the field of education and upbringing. Criteria for hiring directors and teachers, in addition to the Labour Law, are regulated by the General Law on Education and Upbringing. Amendments to the General Law on Education and Upbringing from June 2021 served as a basis for the controversial dismissal of directors in over 200 public educational institutions and opened space for the election and employment of new directors. As this was preceded by a change of the decades-long government in Montenegro, the intention of the then Minister of Education4 to dismiss directors of public educational institutions was noticeable and it happened only because they were appointed by the previous government and without any individual assessment of their work, which caused the initiation of over 157 judicial proceedings by the dismissed directors, who appreciated that they were the injured party. This was followed by a number of first-instance court decisions in favor of the injured parties, with the tendency that, in accordance with the established judicial practice, all disputes of the injured parties, resulting from the illegal and non-transparent process of dismissal, will end in their favor.

This document has been produced with the financial support of the European Union.