Sunday off officially abolished in Montenegro

(Patria) - The Constitutional Court of Montenegro has submitted to the Official Gazette a decision to abolish the article of the Law on Internal Trade which stipulated the prohibition of shops operating on Sundays and public holidays in that country.

The Court, at its session held on January 28, abolished Article 35a of the aforementioned law as unconstitutional because it violates the freedom of entrepreneurship guaranteed by the Constitution, as well as the constitutional principle of equality before the law, as one group of entrepreneurs/traders is allowed to conduct business on Sundays and public holidays, while another group is prohibited from doing so.

"The decision states that the Constitution guarantees employees the right to limited working hours and paid leave, but does not stipulate the right to rest exclusively on Sundays," the Court explained, as reported by RTCG.

They note that Montenegro is a signatory to the Convention on Weekly Rest in Commerce and Offices, which provides for the right to one day off during the week, and that, whenever possible, this day should coincide with the traditional day of rest, but it does not necessarily have to be Sunday if the nature of the work or the provision of services prevents it.

Furthermore, the Labor Law guarantees employees one day of weekly rest, which is taken on Sunday or another day of the week, depending on the nature of the work, with the obligation of the employer and the state to ensure the use and respect of this right.

"By allowing one group of entrepreneurs to work and another not, the legislator indicates that the Parliament of Montenegro acknowledges the need for continuous and daily operation of a certain number of entities to supply consumers.

However, by establishing exceptions without explaining why a distinction was made between entrepreneurs, the legislator did not achieve a constitutionally acceptable balance between the rights of entrepreneurs allowed to work on Sundays and the rights of those prohibited from doing so, to the extent that the objection of inequality of the second group of entities compared to the first can be removed without any doubt," the explanation of the decision to abolish the non-working Sunday states.

The Constitutional Court of Montenegro emphasizes that the Constitution precisely stipulates the reasons for which the freedom of entrepreneurship can be limited (for the protection of human health, the environment, natural resources, cultural heritage, or the security and defense of Montenegro) and that the legislator cannot independently prescribe new limitations outside these constitutional grounds, nor without a clearly established legitimate aim in the public interest.

"By allowing one group of entrepreneurs (pharmacies, confectioneries, bakeries, kiosks, souvenir shops, florists, funeral equipment stores, plant protection stores, gas stations and retail stores within gas stations, markets, etc.) to work and another not, the legislator has placed one group of businessmen in an unequal position compared to another," states the explanation of the Constitutional Court of Montenegro.