Achievements and challenges in fighting corruption presented in OSCE-supported report on improving police-civil society relations

At an event in Podgorica on 27 December 2013, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro presented the report “Anti-corruption Mechanisms and Accountability of Police Officers in Montenegro”. The report was prepared under a project implemented with the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights, an NGO. It concluded that while much has been achieved through new laws and by creating institutional mechanisms, tangible results in terms of the accountability of police officers are still pending.

The collection and analysis of key achievements and challenges in the implementation of anti-corruption and control mechanisms within the police were conducted, as well as the investigation of methods to improve relations between the Ministry of Interior, the Police Directorate and civil society organisations. The project assessed anti-corruption policy and practice within the police in order to identify where additional reform is needed.

Speaking at the presentation of the report, the OSCE Mission’s Programme Manager on Police Affairs, Vladimir Ragozin said: “The importance of the project was that it made it possible to answer the question: To what extent do current mechanisms contribute to the fight against corruption in the police? The report presented today gives insights into how those mechanisms can be improved and contains concise recommendations to the Ministry of Interior, governmental bodies, the Parliament and civil society organizations on how to achieve this”.