OSCE ODIHR Comments on the draft Law on the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms of Montenegro Rights Protector may be re-elected for a further period after the expiration of his/her term of office or not. 32. Article 11 of the draft Law specifies that the Human Rights Protector may be any citizen of Montenegro with a university degree in social sciences and 15 years of experience. Requiring a Human Rights Protector to have a degree in social sciences appears to be very limiting – while it is understandable that someone holding such a high office should have an academic degree, it is unclear why only a social sciences degree will make this person eligible for this position. It is therefore recommended to amend Article 11 so that any person with a university degree may become Human Rights Protector. In this context, it may also be worthwhile to specify that he/she shall have 15 years of relevant years of experience – meaning experience that will make him/her qualified to hold the office of Human Rights Protector. 4.2.1.2. The Deputies of the Human Rights Protector 33. According to Article 8, the Human Rights Protector shall have at least four Deputy Protectors. The Protector proposes the number of deputies to the Parliament, which will then decide on the number of deputies. 34. In this context, both the number of Deputy Protectors and the manner of determining their number give rise to certain concerns. With a staff (technical service) of 16 persons (including the secretary) 17 serving a population of 600700,000 residents of Montenegro, it is unclear why at least four deputies are needed and whether this may not make the Protector’s office quite “topheavy”. Even if there will be a clear delineation of responsibilities between the deputies, it is still very probable that such a large amount of Deputy Protectors could prove burdensome in practice. It is recommended to review the actual competencies and tasks of future deputy protectors and debate the added value of such a large amount of deputies. 35. Moreover, it is presumed that keeping the number of deputies flexible may lead to more flexibility in the budgeting procedure and working procedure of the Protector’s office. However, it could also raise certain issues with regard to the independence of this office, since the decision of the number of leading staff of the office is left up to the Parliament – the Human Rights Protector merely has the assurance that the number of deputies will not go below four. Also, specifying the exact number of deputies in the draft Law would enhance clarity and foreseeability of the draft Law. It is thus recommended that the lawmakers decide, in cooperation with the Human Rights Protector, exactly how many deputies will be needed, and include this number in the draft Law. 36. The term of office of deputy protectors is laid down in Article 10 and amounts to six years. In the interests of maintaining the office’s institutional memory and of ensuring smooth work flows throughout, it is recommended to include in the draft Law a provision specifying that the deputies of the Human Rights Protector shall remain in office for their full term of six years even if a new 17 These statistics were found on the website of the Human Rights Protector of Montenegro: http://www.ombudsman.co.me/eng/o_zastitniku.htm. 13