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Download the publication - High Honours, Unclear Rules
Visoka priznanja, nejasna pravila - publikacija ENG
About the publication
Author: Aleksandra Mihaljević
Publishing year: 2026
From the restoration of Montenegro’s independence in 2006 to June 2026, the country’s three Presidents awarded a total of 200 state honours. Nearly every second honour was conferred on a foreign national or foreign legal entity, primarily ambassadors, foreign heads of state, and international officials.
The Centre for Civic Education (CCE) analysed both the normative framework and the practice governing the awarding of state honours, identifying a key regulatory gap. While the Law on State Honours and Awards defines the different categories of honours and outlines the basic awarding procedure, it does not establish criteria for assessing merit, specify who may nominate candidates, or require the President to provide reasons for awarding an honour. As a result, Montenegro’s highest state distinctions are conferred without a mechanism enabling the public to verify whether they have been awarded solely based on merit.
Transparency is not merely a formal requirement; it is a prerequisite for maintaining public confidence in an institution intended to promote the values that the State considers worthy of the highest public recognition. Accordingly, CCE recommends, among other measures, a more precise regulation of the awarding procedure, the introduction of a formal obligation to provide reasons for presidential decisions, and the establishment of a publicly accessible electronic register of all state honours awarded.