Montenegro: Law on Freedom of Religion enters into force

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Law on Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Legal Status of Religious Communities, which before and after its adoption in the Parliament of Montenegro caused dissatisfaction among the Serbian Orthodox Church and pro-Serbian opposition parties, enters into force on Wednesday. 

Thus, the previous Law on the Legal Status of Religious Communities from 1977 ceases to apply.

The new law guarantees full freedom of religion to all believers and equal status for all religious communities in Montenegro, as well as full freedom of belief for all citizens who are not believers. Also, the law establishes the property rights of the state over religious objects that represent the cultural heritage of Montenegro, which were built and acquired over the centuries from public revenues of the state, CdM reports.

It is stipulated that all religious objects that represent cultural heritage, which were the property of the state of Montenegro before the loss of its independence in 1918 and which later did not legally pass into the ownership of any religious community, will be recognized as state property.

However, if any religious community possesses evidence that it became the owner of any property based on regulations that were or are currently in force, the state will recognize and respect that. Any dispute regarding ownership of religious property will be resolved before the competent court, like any other property dispute, in accordance with the applicable laws in Montenegro.

The law specifies that the activities of a religious community can be restricted only if it is necessary in a democratic society for the protection of public safety, public order, health, or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others, whereby the restrictive measure must be proportionate to these values.

Even wider freedom of choice is left when registering religious communities. It is explicitly stated that a religious community whose religious center is abroad has no obligation to register, but freely decides whether to request entry in the Register, whereby unregistered religious communities cannot have legal personality.

In addition, the law allows the registration of any religious community that has at least three adult believers, who do not even have to be citizens of Montenegro, provided they have approved permanent residence in accordance with the law.

The law also introduces additional conditions in the procedure for judicial prohibition of the activities of a religious community, which is allowed only if the legitimate aim of protecting public safety, public order, health, or morals, or protecting the rights and freedoms of others cannot be achieved by milder restrictive measures.

The possibility of financing the activities of religious communities from the state budget and local self-government budgets is explicitly prescribed.

It is unequivocally established that any dispute regarding ownership of religious property will be resolved before the competent court, like any other property dispute, in accordance with the applicable laws in Montenegro.

Also, in the transitional and final provisions, it is specified that a religious community continues to use a certain cultural property even after the registration of state ownership rights over that property, until a decision by the state body competent for deciding on possession, use, and disposal of these objects and land.

Obligations of the Property Administration

The Property Administration has a period of one year, starting from January 8, 2020, to identify religious objects and land that are state property according to this law, to carry out their inventory, and to submit a request for registration of state ownership rights over these immovable properties in the real estate cadastre.

After that, the Real Estate Administration has a period of 15 days from the date of submission of the request to register the request and to immediately, without delay, inform the religious community that uses the objects and land.

We remind you, the adoption of the law caused chaos in the Parliament of Montenegro, fierce opposition from the Serbian Orthodox Church, and protests on the streets. 

Also, protests were held on the streets of several cities in Serbia.