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DPM Pažin: Government’s intention is to guarantee equal rights and equal application of law for all

Published on: Dec 24, 2019 • 5:00 PM Author: PR Service
Proposing a Law on Freedom of Religion, the Government fulfils its constitutional and programme-related duties to provide equal rights and freedoms of all religious communities and believers in Montenegro, as well as of non-religious Montenegrin citizens, Deputy Prime Minister Zoran Pažin stated in his opening remarks, at a session of the Legislative Committee of the Assembly of Montenegro on Monday.

"In Montenegro, as well as everywhere else where the rule of law is observed, the ownership of property can only be established through evidence of ownership, legal personality can only be acquired by registration with a state authority, while public cultural assets can only be used in line with the law," the Deputy Prime Minister pointed out.

He noted that any law that would grant any religious community the rights that no one else in Montenegro has would be as unconstitutional.

"The Government has no other intention but to fulfil its constitutional duty, to guarantee under this Law, in civic Montenegro, equal rights and equal application of the law to all religious communities, to believers of all denominations, but also to non-religious citizens," Deputy Prime Minister Pažin underlined.

The Deputy Prime Minister noted that anyone who has read the Law, will see that it does not contain any provision that places any religious community in a subordinate position, but that all provisions of the law apply equally to all.

"Also, this Draft Law does not prescribe ad hoc legal rules that specifically apply to religious communities, but introduces equally all religious communities into our legal order. Thus, the already established legal rules, applicable to other legal entities, apply to the registration and recording of those religious communities that want the state to recognise them as a legal entity," DPM Pažin highlighted.

In the same manner, explained the Deputy Prime Minister, any property dispute of a state with a religious community is resolved by applying the same legal rules and procedures, applicable to all other property disputes in Montenegro.

"In the case of any property dispute, any religious community will have access to as many as six levels of legal remedies, including protection before national courts and the European Court of Human Rights, prior to the final decision on the ownership of the disputed property. Each religious community, the same as anyone else in Montenegro, is guaranteed the right to equal protection of freedoms and rights in a procedure prescribe by the law," the Deputy Prime Minister recalled.

Furthermore, the Deputy Prime Minister stated, the state has a constitutional and legal obligation to protect cultural values, noting that religious facilities represent a very significant part of the cultural identity of Montenegro, which the state is obliged to protect under the Constitution.

PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF MONTENEGRO 


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