PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS REGARDING LAW ON CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

DeFacto Consultancy, July 2015

INTRODUCTION REMARKS

This is one of the rare longitudinal surveys in Montenegro

This is the fifth survey wave, it started in 2007 and continues till today

Methodology is quantitative

Questionnaire contained 47 questions

1000 people were surveyed, selection of the respondents was conducted using representative sample for Montenegro

Interviewing was conducted face to face

Standard error of measurement was +-3.10%

FAMILIARITY WITH THE LEGAL FRAMEWORKHave you heard of Commission for prevention of conflict of interests?

FAMILIARITY WITH THE LEGAL FRAMEWORKAre you familiar with the changes of the Law on preventing conflict of interests of public officials?

FAMILIARITY WITH THE LEGAL FRAMEWORKIf you are familiar with the Law, do you believe that is is…

FAMILIARITY WITH THE LEGAL FRAMEWORKDo you know who the Law applies to?

FAMILIARITY WITH THE LEGAL FRAMEWORKDo you know how many public officials need to obey this Law?

Do you think that the number of public officials that need to obey this Law should be increased or reduced? (yellow for 2013 and green for 2015)

FAMILIARITY WITH THE LEGAL FRAMEWORKIf you believe that the number of public officials should be increased, do you think it should also include customs officers, doctors, professors and others?

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSDo you agree with the following provisions of the Law on the prevention of the conflict of interests? What should and should not public officials be allowed to do while in office?

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSProcentage of those that agree with the fact that public official must not be a member of the management body of a company or public institution

Do you consider justified legal provision that states that members of the parliament cannot be members of the governing, oversight boards or management of public companies and institutions?

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSThe Law states that public officials need to report their property. Do you agree with the following claims related to this issue?

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSPercentage of people that believe that public officials should report the property of all the members of their households

Percentage of people that believe that public officials should report the property at the beginning and at the end of their term

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSAfter termination of public service for how long should a public official submit the report on income and property?

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSWhat do you think about the latest change of the Law on prevention of the conflict of interests which states that public officials must report the source of the significant increasing of their property?

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSCan a public official after termination of his/her public service work on private business that is directly related to his work as public official?

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSDo you believe that the reported property of the public officials is realistic?

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSDo you believe that the information related to the property of the public officials should be public?

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSShould a public official when taking the office state the source of his/her property before becoming a public officer?

What should be the punishment for not reporting accurate information about one’s property?

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSPercentage of people that believe that the punishment of not submitting information about their property should be removal from the office

Percentage of those that believe that the punishment for not submitting accurate information about property should be prison

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSShould the punishment be different for those that conduct their work as professionals related to those that do not?

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSShould the number of positions that a public official can hold be limited?

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSThe Law states that the initiative for starting a procedure with the Commission for prevention of the conflict of interest can come from any person. Would you submit one if you had the knowledge of a public official breaking the Law on prevention of conflict of interests?

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSShould a specific value of the each property item that is not being officially registered be determined?

People mentioned different amounts between 1 and 50 000 eur. The most frequent response is 1000 eura (23,6%).

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSDoes the Commission for prevention of conflict of interests have the right to enforce other legal provisions (laws, bylaws, ethical regulations etc.)?

Which should be the punishment for public officials if they disobey the Law on prevention of the conflict of interests?

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSPercentage of those that believe that public officials should be punished with dismissal from the office and financial fee

Percentage of those that believe that the punishment should be prison

Percentage of those that believe that the punishment should be dismissal from the public office and life long prohibition of working in public sector

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSDid you know that the changes of the Law brought tougher financial punishment for public officials that disobey it?

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONS

Percentage of those that believe that it is a real problem unavailability of information about the work of the government

Do you agree with the statement that the following are real problems?

ATTITUDES ABOUT SPECIFIC LEGAL PROVISIONSWould you vote for the public official…

ATTITUDES ABOUT THE WORK OF THE COMMISSIONHow would you evaluate the work of the Commission for prevention of conflict of interests?

ATTITUDES ABOUT THE WORK OF THE COMMISSIONDo you believe that having in mind impartiality and the nature of its work the Commission needs independent budget?

ATTITUDES ABOUT THE WORK OF THE COMMISSIONDo you believe that the Commission adequately checks property of the public officials?

What is the most efficient way to collect and check the information about property of the public officials?

ATTITUDES ABOUT THE WORK OF THE COMMISSIONShould a public official when taking the office provide consent that his/hers banking account in the country and abroad could be checked?

Should be the data about the property, banking accounts, companies etc. of the public officials be protected from the public in accordance with the Law on private data protection

ATTITUDES ABOUT THE WORK OF THE COMMISSIONDo you believe that the public official that does not sign a consent allowing access to banking accounts is trying to hide his/her property?

Is it justified that a public official can earn money from only one working bodies and commissions?

ATTITUDES ABOUT THE WORK OF THE COMMISSIONThe Commission uses data from other state bodies in order to check the information about the property of the public officials. Do you believe that other legal entities in private sectors should be obliged to provide information for the Commission?

Are you are of the fact that public officials after leaving the office cannot sign contract for providing services whose value exceeds 500 eur yearly?

ATTITUDES ABOUT THE WORK OF THE COMMISSIONDo you believe that hiding the property of the public official should be considered as criminal act?

Do you believe that the report on property and income of the public officials should be treated as an official document?

ATTITUDES ABOUT THE WORK OF THE COMMISSIONHaving in mind that current legislation does not stipulate that the statement about change of the bank is obligatory, do you believe it should become?

Do you know that the public official needs to disclose private interest if there is a conflict?

ATTITUDES ABOUT THE WORK OF THE COMMISSIONHave you so far requested any information from the Commission for prevention of the conflict of interests?

ATTITUDES ABOUT THE WORK OF THE COMMISSIONIf not, why?

ATTITUDES ABOUT THE WORK OF THE COMMISSIONIf you did requested such information what are your experiences?*

* Total number of respondents was 41

ATTITUDES ABOUT THE WORK OF THE COMMISSIONHow do you mostly get informed about the work of the Commission for the prevention of conflict of interests?

ATTITUDES ABOUT THE WORK OF THE COMMISSIONThe main channels of receiving information about the work of the Commission?

ATTITUDES ABOUT THE WORK OF THE COMMISSIONIs better cooperation with countries of the region necessary when it comes to implementation of the conflict of interest legislation?

Should the Commission for preventing conflict of interests use more marketing resources in order to better inform the citizens?

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS Most citizens are aware of the fact that the Commission for prevention of the

conflict of interests exists The number of those that are familiar with the Law on prevention of the conflict

of interests is almost twice smaller Although the number of people that report knowledge about the Law is

decreasing, the number of the people that evaluates it as a good one increases The Commission is trusted by the citizens Less then half of the citizens is prepared to personally initiate a procedure

against a public official Information are not available about the work of the government bodies and this

is one of the major problems according to citizens’ perceptions Citizens approve of the idea that reports to the Commission are used as public

documents