General youth policy governance reform in Montenegro was based on the joint effort of the governmental, non-governmental and international organizations to establish a normative legal framework for the implementation of the first Law on Youth. 

Existence of a national youth law

The Law on Youth was a joint approach to youth policy implementation was introduced in the country for the first time, aiming to support the implementation of the National Youth Action Plan and improve the position of young people and their involvement in all aspects of social life. The law represented a comprehensive and binding official document addressing the needs and rights of young people and regulating how youth issues are addressed in Montenegro.

Scope and contents

Rights and obligations are not additionally prescribed by the Law on Youth.

There are various laws concerning promotion and protection of rights of young people in different fields of social life. Rights of youth in the field of education, youth participation and organization are prescribed by the Law on Higher Education, the General Law on Education, the Law on Vocational Education, and the Law on National Vocational Qualifications. The Law on Social and Child Protection guarantees social protection of youth; rights of young people on family and parental care are prescribed by the Family Law of Montenegro. Protection of youth with disabilities and other vulnerable groups is guaranteed by the Law on Prohibition against Discrimination, the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities, the Law on Travel Privileges of Persons with Disabilities and the Law on Juvenile Justice.         

Revisions/updates

During the implementation of the first Law on Youth the need for its revision was noticed. The UN System in Montenegro supported the government in the process of preparing the by-laws on the Law on Youth, under the Joint UN Youth Program objective “Supporting enabling environment for youth development” in research, policy preparation and legislation preparation work). This participatory process was implemented in co-operation with the Governmental Working Group in charge of the preparation of the by-laws. The process was based on analysis of the law and youth policy context in Montenegro as well as the preparation of recommendations relating to the further improvement of the youth policy legal framework. As a result, the Rulebook for financing projects of youth organizations relating to the implementation of the youth strategy annual action plans was drafted, based on Article 30 of the Law on Youth. Furthermore, in order to assure the systematic improvement in the implementation of youth policy, the Parliament of Montenegro adopted the new Law on Youth) on 4 April 2019. The improvements mainly aimed to:

• institutionalize and empower youth services (youth clubs and youth centers);

• create conditions for the constitution of the representative (umbrella) Association of NGOs

and establishment of the Council for Youth as the governmental advisory body for

implementation of youth policy; 

• improve mechanisms for efficient implementation of youth policy at the local level and

strengthen co-operation with local self-governments by supporting their capacity building

in the field of youth policy implementation

The Law on Youth regulates the manner of determining and implementing youth policy, as well as measures and activities undertaken in order to improve the social position of young people and create conditions for meeting the needs of young people in all areas of interest to young people (Article 1). 

The new law defines youth policy as “a set of measures and activities that state bodies, state administration bodies, local self-government bodies, non-governmental organizations, student/pupil parliaments and other legal entities undertake to improve the position of young people, their personal and social development and inclusion in society” (Article 3). For the first time, this law provides a definition of youth work in Article 4.   

It furthermore stipulates that “youth policy in Montenegro is based on the principles of equality, volunteerism, solidarity, active participation and information of young people” (Article 7). 

The Law on Youth defines mechanisms for determination and implementation of youth policy, including: Youth Strategy (Article 13); Local youth action plan (Article 14); Programme of realization of public interest in the field of youth policy (Article 15); Council for Youth (national and local level, Articles 16-18); Implementation of youth policy by nongovernmental organizations (Article 19); and Alliance of non-governmental organizations, i.e. associations that implement youth policy (Article 20).     

By-laws supporting the implementation of the Law on Youth were adopted by the Ministry of Sports and Youth (the previous state administration body responsible for public policy in the field of sports and youth), during 2019-2020. These include:   

• Rulebook on criteria and conditions for the selection of premises for youth service; 

• Rulebook on the manner of functioning of youth services and performance of administrative and technical tasks necessary for their functioning;

• Rulebook on conditions, manner and procedure of election of members of the Youth Council. 

The adoption of these by-laws completed the normative framework and created the conditions for the full implementation of the Law on Youth. 

    
However, in January 2021, the Directorate for Sports and Youth, under the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, initiated the drafting of technical amendments to the Law on Youth bearing in mind that the Regulation on the organization and manner of work of the state administration changed the institutional framework for the implementation of youth policy in Montenegro.