LAW ON REFERENDUM
as of 19 Feb 2001
I BASIC PROVISIONS
The present Law
regulates the calling and administration of a referendum, being the form of a prior
pronouncement of citizens, as well as bodies in charge of the administration of
a referendum and protection of citizens’ rights in the administration of a
referendum.
Referendum in
the Republic of Montenegro (hereinafter referred to as: the republican
referendum), shall be called in the territory of the Republic or a part
thereof, for the purpose of a prior pronouncement of citizens on specific
issues lying within the competence of the Assembly of the Republic of
Montenegro (hereinafter referred to as: the Assembly of the Republic).
Referendum in a
municipality, the capital city of the Republic i.e. the administrative center
(hereinafter referred to as: the municipality) shall be called for the purpose
of a prior pronouncement of citizens on specific issues lying within the
competence of the municipal assembly.
The republican
referendum must be called for the purpose of a prior pronouncement of citizens
on any changes in the status of the country, changes in the form of a government
and any changes of frontiers.
The republican
referendum can be called for the purpose obtaining an opinion of citizens prior
to making a decision on specific issues lying within the competence of the
Assembly of the Republic.
The municipal
referendum must be called for the purpose of a prior pronouncement of citizens
on the establishment of new municipalities, abolishment or amalgamation of the
existing municipalities and any changes in the domicile of municipalities.
The municipal
referendum can be called for the purpose of obtaining an opinion of the
citizens prior to making a decision on specific issues lying within the
competence of the municipal assembly, in the manner and following the procedure
prescribed by the municipal statute in conformity with the present Law.
The outcome of
a referendum shall be binding on the assembly calling the referendum.
The decision on
calling a republican referendum shall be made by the Assembly of the Republic,
by majority of votes of the total number of representatives in the Assembly.
The decision to
call a referendum in a municipality shall be made by the municipal assembly, in
conformity with the statute of the municipality.
The decision on
calling a referendum shall determine specifically, the wording of the question
on which the citizens are to pronounce themselves in the referendum, as well as
the date of holding the referendum.
The decision to
call a referendum shall be publicized in the manner applicable to the
regulations of the authority calling the referendum.
Citizens shall
pronounce themselves in the referendum on one or more questions.
No less than 45
days and no more than 90 days shall pass between the day a referendum is called
and the day it is held.
The right to
pronounce themselves in a referendum shall be enjoyed by the citizens who,
pursuant to election laws, enjoy voting rights.
No one shall,
on whatever account, hold any citizen liable for having voted in a referendum, nor
shall any citizen be requested to state who he has voted for or why he has
abstained from voting.
Referendum
shall be administered by secret ballot.
Voting shall be
performed by voting tickets/ballots.
Every citizen
shall vote only in person.
The authority
which has called the referendum shall be obliged, not later that
15 days from the day of submittal of a report by a competent commission, to
ascertain the outcome of the referendum.
Should the
outcome of a referendum entail an obligation on the part of the authority
referred to in Paragraph 1 of this Article to pass an act, the above authority
shall, within 60 days from the day of the referendum, pass the respective act.
If citizens
have voted in a referendum against a specific question, a 12month period is
required to pass before the same question can be re-proposed for the vote in a
referendum.
The
administration of a referendum shall be performed by the referendum
administration bodies i.e. commissions and polling committees.
The funds
required for the administration of a referendum shall be apportioned to in the
budget of the Republic i.e. a municipality.
All activities
and actions related to the administration of a referendum shall be exempt from
any fees whatsoever.
The procedure
of administering a referendum shall be made public.
Publicity of
the referendum administration procedure shall imply the right of every citizen
to be informed in a timely and truthful manner and under equitable terms by
means of public media, on all stages of the above procedure and the varied
attitudes and opinions in respect to a referendum question.
The competent
assembly shall, by passing a special ordinance, prescribe more detailed
conditions in respect to public campaigning by means of media.
Public
referendum campaigning by means of media and public gatherings shall cease 48
hours prior to the referendum day.
The protection
of citizens’ rights in the administration of a referendum shall be provided by
the referendum administration commissions, the Constitutional Court of the
Republic of Montenegro and other competent courts.
II REFERENDUM ADMINISTRATION BODIES
Bodies in
charge of the administration of a referendum shall act in compliance with the
law.
The referendum
administration bodies shall be responsible to the authorities that have
appointed them.
State
government agencies and organizations, as well as local self-government/municipal
agencies shall be obliged to provide the referendum administration bodies with
the relevant data and information needed for performing their activities.
Bodies in
charge of the administration of a referendum shall decide by majority of votes
of the total number of their members.
The activities
of the referendum administration bodies shall be made public.
Commissions for
administration of a referendum shall be composed of a chairman, a secretary and
a certain number of members.
The principle
of a proportionate representation of political parties in the assembly that has
called the referendum, must be observed when
appointing the members of commissions.
Deputies are
appointed to the chairman, secretary and members of referendum commissions.
The term of
office of the chairman, secretary and members of referendum commissions shall
last until the ascertainment of the referendum outcome by the assembly that has
called the referendum.
The chairman,
secretary and members of commissions in charge of a referendum shall be
appointed from among the jurists and must have a voting right.
A republican
referendum shall be administered by:
Commissions
referred to in Paragraph 1 of this Article shall be appointed by the Assembly
of the Republic of Montenegro, not later that 10 days
after coming into force of the decision on calling the referendum.
The Republican
Commission shall be composed of a chairman, a secretary and nine members.
The Commission
for administering a republican referendum in a municipality shall be composed
of a chairman, secretary and seven members.
The Republican
Commission shall:
The Commission
in charge of administering a republican referendum in a municipality shall:
A municipal
referendum shall be administered by the:
The Commission
for administering a municipal referendum shall be appointed by the municipal
assembly, not later than 10 days from coming into force of the decision on
calling the referendum.
The decree on
the establishment/appointment of the commission for administering a municipal
referendum shall prescribe the number of members and appoint the members of the
commission, in conformity with the present Law.
The Commission
for administering a municipal referendum shall:
A polling
committee shall be appointed for each polling station, not later than 10 days
before the day determined for the pronouncement of citizens in a referendum.
A polling
committee shall be composed of a chairman and six members.
Deputies shall
be appointed to the chairman and members of polling committees.
The chairman
and members of polling committees shall be appointed for each referendum.
The principle
of a proportionate representation of political parties in the assembly that has
called the referendum, must be observed when
appointing the polling committee.
The chairman
and members of polling committees must have a voting right.
Polling
committees administer the voting at polling stations, provide for regularity
and secrecy of voting and establish the results of voting at their respective
polling stations.
Polling
committees shall provide for maintenance of order at polling stations during
the pronouncement of citizens in a referendum.
A polling
committee appoints, from among its members, two commissioners who shall be in
charge of administering the voting out of the polling station; if possible, one
of these commissioners shall represent one of two opposition parties in the
respective assembly that has won the largest number of votes in the previous
elections.
III ADMINISTERING A REFERENDUM
Provisions of
the Law on Election of Councilmen and Representatives related to polling
stations and voting at polling stations, voting by mail; voting material;
voting; establishing of voting results; repeated elections; observation of
elections; financing elections and other matters shall be applied accordingly
to the procedure of administering a referendum, if not otherwise provided by
the present Law.
Referendum
shall be administered in conformity with the voters’ registers that are used for
elections.
In the
procedure of administration of a referendum, provisions of the Law on Voters’
Registers shall be applied accordingly.
The voting
ticket/ballot shall contain the following:
In addition to
the data referred to in Paragraph 1 of this Article, each voting ticket shall
contain also, in the upper right corner of its back side, the title of the
municipality, the title of the polling station, designation of the polling
station and the seal of the polling committee comprising the title and the name
of the respective polling station.
A voting ticket
shall be comprised of two portions i.e. of a counterfoil or a stub of a ballot
with a uniform serial number, and of a ballot paper.
A uniform serial
number must not be printed on the ballot paper.
The counterfoil
or a stub of the ballot and the ballot are separated by perforations.
The range of
serial numbers on the counterfoil corresponds to the number of voters enlisted
in the voters’ register, while the number of voting tickets shall be determined
for each polling station according to the order of serial numbers on
counterfoils.
The counterfoil
or stub of a ballot is printed widthwise, in such a manner as not to exceed a
half of the voting ticket width.
If there is
only one question in a referendum, a citizen shall vote by circling the word
"FOR" or the word "AGAINST".
If there are
more questions on which citizens are to pronounce themselves in a referendum, a
citizen shall vote by circling the ordinal number printed in front of the
question.
If there is one
question in a referendum, invalid shall be deemed any ballot paper which has
been left blank, or which has been marked in such a manner that it could not be
established with certainty what the citizen has voted for, or a ballot on which
both the word "FOR" and the word "AGAINST" have been
circled.
If there are
more questions on which citizens are to pronounce themselves in a referendum,
invalid shall be deemed any ballot paper which has been left blank i.e. on
which no ordinal number has been circled, or which has been marked in such a
manner that it could not be established with certainty what the citizen has
voted for, or a ballot on which several ordinal numbers have been circled.
Transparent/invisible
ink – spray and optical readers shall be used in a referendum.
After the
voting has finished, the polling committee shall undertake to establish both
the number of citizens who voted "FOR" and the number of citizens who
voted "AGAINST", if there has been only one question in the
referendum; if there have been more questions in the referendum, the polling
committee shall establish also the number of votes awarded to each particular
question.
The record or
the report of the referendum administration body shall contain the data
referred to in Paragraph 1 of this Article.
The Republican
Commission shall establish and make public the outcome of the republican
referendum.
The Commission
for administration of a municipal referendum shall make public the data on :
The outcome of
the republican referendum shall be publicized in the Official Gazette of the
Republic of Montenegro, and the outcome of the municipal referendum shall be
publicized in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Montenegro – Municipal
Regulations, not later than 15 days from the date of holding a referendum.
The decision in
a referendum is taken by a majority vote of the citizens who have voted,
provided that the majority of citizens with voting rights has
voted.
IV PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS IN THE
ADMINISTRATION
OF A REFERENDUM
Every citizen
who has the right to pronounce himself in referendum can make, on the account
of irregularities in the administration of a referendum, representations to the
competent commission.
Representations
referred to in Paragraph 1 of this Article shall be made within 72 hours of
passing a decision i.e. conducting an act.
Representations
referred to in Paragraph 1 of this Article shall be lodged directly with a
competent commission.
Representations
against a decision, an act or a failure from the part of a polling committee
shall be lodged with a competent commission.
Representations
against a decision, an act or a failure from the part of a commission in charge
of administering a republican referendum in a municipality,
shall be lodged with a Republican Commission.
A competent commission
shall take a decision on the representations within 24 hours after
representations have been made and deliver it to a person making a
representation.
Should a
competent commission approve a representation, a respective decision or an act
shall be made void.
Should it
happen that a competent commission fails to pass a decision on a respective
representation within a period of time stipulated by the present Law, the representation shall be deemed as being approved.
Against a decision
of the commission for administration of a municipal referendum, denying or
rejecting a representation, or against a decision, an act of a failure on the
part of this Commission, a citizen can lodge a complaint with the
Constitutional Court of the Republic of Montenegro.
Against a
decision of the commission for administration of a republican referendum in a
municipality, denying or rejecting a representation, a citizen can lodge a
complaint with the Republican Commission.
Against a decision
of the Republican Commission denying or rejecting a representation, or against
a decision, an act or a failure on the part of this Commission, a citizen can
lodge a complaint with the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Montenegro.
V CONCLUDING PROVISIONS
On the day on
which the present Law shall come into force, the Law on Referendum (Official
Gazette of the Republic of Montenegro, Nos. 3/92 & 7/92) shall cease to be
valid.
This Law shall come into force on the day of its publication in the Official
Gazette of the Republic of Montenegro.