By adopting the decree amending the 2020 Budget Law, the Government of Montenegro violated the Constitution and usurped the competencies of the Montenegrin parliament, President of the Montenegrin Association of Lawyers, Mr Branislav Radulović, says in a statement for CdM.
“The day after the adoption of the new Decree, the Government of Montenegro amended the Decree thus establishing a new regime of spending units and distribution of funds, contrary to the Constitution and Budget Law,” he underlined.
The Government does not have the constitutional or legal competence to change the regime of the use of budget funds, contrary to the adopted Budget Law, with an act of lower legal force.
“The Government has thus usurped the competencies of the Parliament, which will lead to illegal disposal of budget funds, as a result of which it will not be possible to establish a legal and accurate final account.”
Therefore, a double mistake was made, because a decree cannot amend the budget law and the government is not authorized to perform tasks that fall under competences of the parliament.
This issue was raised yesterday at the session of the Administrative Court when the MP of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Mr Raško Konjević, asked how the government could amend the 2020 budget law with a decree.
