Podgorica, (MINA) - The Human Rights Action (HRA) on Monday called on the ministries of justice and European affairs to publish the opinions of the European Commission (EC) on the proposed laws on the National Security Agency (ANB) and internal affairs, stating that the public must be able to assess if the proposals comply with European standards.

Regarding the fact that the agenda for the parliamentary session scheduled for Tuesday has not yet been determined, the HRA said they are concerned about the violation of the principle of transparency in the legislative process and warned that the draft law on ANB could also be placed on the agenda.

“Such a practice, which opens the door to passing laws “over the knee”, could easily include the Draft Law on ANB, which poses a particular threat to the human right to privacy”, HRA said.

They recalled that this bill was removed from the agenda in July, along with the Law on Internal Affairs and amendments to the Law on Public Gatherings, following serious criticism from NGO sector and the opposition.

According to the HRA, Parliament Speaker Andrija Mandic announced that the proposed laws in this case had been withdrawn in order to improve communication with the public and international partners.

“However, this draft law was not communicated to the public, no public debate has been held, nor has been the public informed about the European Commission’s opinion”, HRA said.

They added that the same applies to the amendments to the Law on Internal Affairs, which, despite this, “have been pushed through two parliamentary committees in the meantime”.

“In such a non-transparent situation, laws that do not meet human rights standards, which Montenegro must fulfill before joining the EU, can easily be adopted”, HRA warned.

As they pointed out, putting the Draft Law on ANB back on the agenda, without its content being known to the public in advance, would represent a gross violation of democratic culture.