Podgorica, (MINA) – Montenegrin ministries meet on average only half of the openness criteria – 49.16 percent, the Regional Openness Index conducted by the the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) showed.

CDT Deputy Executive Director Milena Gvozdenovic said that, while the parliament persistently postpones the adoption of the new Law on Free Access to Information, research shows that state authorities do not comply even with the current legislation, which obliges them to publish information about their work on their websites.

“In the absence of effective supervision, the executive branch in Montenegro acts above the law, deciding on its own which documents to publish and when to provide citizens with access to information to which they are entitled”, said Gvozdenovic.

According to her, the Ministry of Justice met most openness criteria, with 86.18 percent, while the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Social Welfare, Care for the Family and Demography ranked the lowest, with only 33.19 percent of the indicators fulfilled.

Gvozdenovic remarked that the research results indicate a systematic violation of the Law on the Free Access to Information, in the part regarding proactive access to information.

She added that the ministries also fail to respect legal deadlines when responding to requests for free access to information.

“The data indicate serious shortcomings in the proactive transparency of the ministries and the availability of information that the public has the right to know”, said Gvozdenovic.