Montenegro Lifts Immunity for President, Ministers

Montenegro’s parliament unanimously passed a constitutional amendment on September 3 stripping the president and cabinet members of immunity for criminal offenses tied to abuse of office, including abuse of official position and bribery. All 66 lawmakers present voted in favor, with no votes against and no abstentions. The decision comes as Brussels treats rule of law and executive accountability as a condition for progress toward European Union membership, an issue that has also weighed on Belgrade, where lifting immunity for officials has been debated for years without a final move.

Passing the constitutional amendment required a two thirds majority in parliament. Lawmakers also unanimously accepted a proposal from the Constitutional Committee the same day to finalize the amendment’s text within four days, formally moving the constitutional change into its final phase. The explanatory note behind the proposal states that criminal offenses tied to abuse of office directly threaten the integrity of public authority, public trust in institutions and the basic principles of the constitutional order, and that it is therefore necessary to clearly establish that no constitutional protection through immunity exists for these offenses.

Deputy Prime Minister Momo Koprivica addressed lawmakers during the debate and explained that the amendment does not target a political reckoning with the opposition, but members of the executive branch.

“We are not proposing to enable anyone’s political persecution of dissidents, we are not proposing that a cabinet member could be prosecuted because they made a political decision that someone agrees or disagrees with. We are proposing something much simpler, that no executive office should be a shield from accountability for criminal offenses involving corruption,” Koprivica said.

Anti mafia law the same day

Lawmakers in Podgorica did not stop at the constitutional amendment that day. After hours of debate, they also passed the Law on the Seizure of Assets Acquired Through Criminal Activity, known publicly as the anti mafia law. The law passed with 43 votes in favor, fewer than the constitutional amendment earlier the same day, when all 66 lawmakers were in the chamber, but every lawmaker present at that point voted for it. The law introduces the possibility of permanent asset seizure ahead of a final conviction in organized crime cases, but only after a court confirms the indictment or, in summary proceedings, schedules the main hearing.

Justice Minister Bojan Bozovic, explaining the measure, said it ensures the process does not rest on arbitrary suspicion but on a case that has already passed judicial review.

“For the criminal offenses of criminal association and forming a criminal organization, a special option is introduced for permanent asset seizure before a final conviction. This process can only be initiated once a ruling confirming the indictment has been issued, or once the main hearing has been scheduled in summary proceedings,” Bozovic said.

The minister stressed that the law has the European Commission’s green light and that it passed every stage of communication with Brussels before reaching the parliamentary procedure, an argument that carries its own weight for Podgorica, the EU membership candidate furthest along in accession talks in the region. Bozovic also added that the measure carries mechanisms to guard against abuse.

“It’s a fact that the law has mechanisms to guard against the kind of abuse that has rightly been raised against us as a possible risk,” Bozovic said.

During the debate, the opposition warned of the risk that prosecutors could apply both measures selectively, though it ultimately voted for both acts as well. The ruling majority argued that no one should be above the law and that immunity cannot remain a shield for corruption, while opposition representatives sought guarantees that the constitutional changes would not open space for prosecutors, police or other bodies to decide who gets to hold power, rather than voters.

For Belgrade, where the debate over lifting officials’ immunity has run for years without progress, the Podgorica precedent shows that a two thirds parliamentary majority and political will are enough to limit constitutional protection. Whether a similar measure could reach the Serbian parliament’s agenda is an open question, one that depends on a lineup of votes Podgorica has today and Belgrade, for now, does not.