almanac on security sector oversight in the Western Balkans

seven points (requirements) for starting association talks with Montenegro, included
fighting organised crime and corruption among the top issues to be addressed.
3 . Patterns of democratic accountability of the security
sector
The main part of this analysis will be devoted to an overview of patterns of democratic
accountability over the security sector in Montenegro. The legislative framework has
been established setting up different oversight mechanisms. The main ones are: the
Ombudsperson, the State Audit Institution, the Parliamentary Committee for Security
and Defence (CSD), the Council for Civic Control of the Police Work and the Agency
for Private Data Protection. The general impression is that the capacities of these institutions
need further strengthening. This can be concluded based on the main recommendations
from the latest European Commission progress report: “The current
financial and human resources of the Ombudsman’s office are not sufficient to carry
out all its tasks efficiently ... The capacity of the Ombudsman and of the State Audit
Institution needs to be further enhanced.”(European Commission 2010, pp.9-10)
As part of research for this chapter, we also examined the cooperation between oversight
bodies. It seems that there is very little cooperation, and it is usually ad hoc and
not systematic. We will argue below that better cooperation would make these oversight
bodies more efficient.
Another explanation for their inefficiency could be the fact that these were not internally
driven processes but rather these bodies were created because of demands and
conditions imposed from outside.
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3.1. Role of Parliament
A good place to begin an analysis of security sector oversight mechanisms is the Parliament
of Montenegro. We believe the most significant improvement was made in oversight
by parliament and the performance of this important institution has improved
over time both in terms of efficiency and transparency. Montenegro has a solid legal
framework on parliamentary oversight of the security sector. The Parliamentary Committee
for Security and Defence (CSD) is in charge of overseeing the work of the entire
security sector. The work of this committee is covered by a comprehensive legal framework,
which was recently completed and improved by the introduction of the Law on
Parliamentary Oversight within the Area of Security and Defence. This law extends
the mandate of members of parliament to control the security sector and encourages
them to take initiative by obliging CSD members to make yearly action plans for control
and oversight. Since the law was recently adopted we do not have insight into
its practice. The law does not prohibit CSD members from including other oversight
bodies in their meetings or from asking them for advice. In addition, according to the
law, to hold a meeting during regular parliamentary sessions on one specific topic, the