[3] Recently, Montenegro started the process of reforming the current law: a draft proposal was formulated by the Culture of Ministry in 2016 following some pressure from the European Union to align Montenegrin legislation with EU standards.
[2] Another positive development in the 2013 law is the introduction of fines to be imposed upon public bodies which fail to fulfill with their duties with regard to access to information.
[4] According to the newspaper Vijesti, the experience of journalists and NGOs in the country shows that, despite FOI legal provisions, in practice it is difficult to get information of public importance.
[5] In the majority of cases applicants are get the required information with large delays, beyond the time frame established by the law, and often after having filed a complaint to the Ombudsbam.
[5] The report of the EC also points out that in some cases public authorities in Montenegro seem to abuse the possibility of declaring requested documents confidential in order to avoid their disclosure.
The formulation of the exceptions enshrined in the law seems to be too vague and too general, thus giving room for public institutions to interpret it in a way that restricts access to information.