Montenegro government: Venice Commission welcomes law on religious communities

The Commission concluded that the draft law bring significant positive changes to the existing outdated legislature, the press release said.  

It added that the Venice Commission welcomed the efforts of the Montenegrin authorities to replace the existing law on religious communities which was introduced in 1977.  

“The Venice Commission also found that the determination to guarantee not just religious freedom but also non-religious convictions is also positive and welcomed the liberal approach in articles regulating the procedures to register religious communities, respect their autonomy and guarantee the right to religious teaching and the founding of religious schools,” the press release said.  

The draft law and President Milo Djukanovic’s announcement of an independent Montenegrin Orthodox Church has created a dispute between the Montenegrin authorities and the Serbian Orthodox Church which fears that its monasteries and churches in Montenegro could be seized.