Situation date: 9 September 2026. Status: In force. Instrument: Zakon o oduzimanju imovinske koristi stečene kriminalnom aktivnošću ("Sl. list CG" 131/2026, act 2255); published 7 September 2026, in force 8 September 2026 under article 96. The previous law ("Sl. list CG" 58/15, 47/19 and 54/24) ceased to apply the same day under article 95.
Most owners meet this subject through a single line on a list nepokretnosti, the cadastral extract, that was not there six months ago. The new law tells the court to record a freezing order in that register, so the entry is now part of ordinary purchase diligence rather than a criminal-file curiosity. What follows is what the text says, and where it stops.
What the text says
Article 22 lists eight interim security measures. The first two concern land and buildings: a ban on using the property and a ban on disposing of it, each "uz zabilježbu zabrane u katastru nepokretnosti" — with the prohibition noted in the real estate cadastre. Item five bans transfer and encumbrance of shares or company stakes, with the ban entered in public registers; item seven installs a temporary administration in a company; item eight covers movables including crypto assets and other digital assets, again with an entry in the relevant register. The measure is normally ordered by the investigating judge on the prosecutor's proposal. A prosecutor may impose it by order in urgent cases, but if no reasoned proposal follows within eight days the measure lapses by operation of law (article 24).
| What can be frozen | Basis | How it is recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Use of immovable property | art. 22(1)(1) | Note in the cadastre |
| Disposal of immovable property | art. 22(1)(2) | Note in the cadastre |
| Shares and company stakes | art. 22(1)(5) | Entry in public registers |
| Crypto and other digital assets | art. 22(1)(8) | Note in the relevant register |
| Other property of equal value | art. 22(2) | Depends on the measure |
Two figures anchor the law. Confiscation without a final conviction requires three conditions together under article 2(2): the offence committed within a criminal association, an indictment already confirmed, and proceeds worth at least EUR 50,000. The same figure reappears in article 13(2) as the threshold for opening a financial investigation. The test the court applies is the obvious disproportion between the value of the property, after deducting taxes paid, and the holder's lawful income.
Third parties have their own rules. Article 2(3) extends confiscation to a legal predecessor, a legal successor, family members and third persons where they knew, could have known, or were obliged to know that the transfer was meant to defeat confiscation. Article 2(4) names the two circumstances the court weighs first: a transfer for no consideration or for a price obviously out of line with real value, and a transfer after which the perpetrator kept actual control. Article 7(11) then defines the savjesno treće lice, the bona fide third party, as someone who did not know, could not have known, and was not obliged to know when the right was acquired.
Article 52 gives that definition its weight. The first paragraph is one sentence: confiscation does not affect rights that a bona fide third party holds in the property. The fourth paragraph attaches a condition. A bona fide third party who was informed that proceedings had begun, and who did not join them before the confiscation decision became final, loses the right to be satisfied out of the confiscated property. The notification channel sits in article 28: the freezing order is published in the Službeni list Crne Gore and posted on the court's noticeboard, together with an invitation to bona fide third parties to join.
Time limits are written out. A measure lasts at most until the confiscation decision is final. Ordered during the preliminary inquiry, it falls away if the investigation does not start within six months; ordered during the investigation, it falls away if the indictment does not become final within two years, and after those two years no fresh proposal may be made against the same person over the same property (article 33). An appeal runs for eight days and does not suspend enforcement (article 29). If the request is refused or the accused is acquitted, the property goes back within fifteen days, a damages claim runs for six months from service of the final decision, and Montenegro is liable for the damages (article 76). On return the holder also receives the fruits, and where the asset was sold, the price plus the average interest paid on demand deposits in Montenegro (article 77).
What the text does not say
The law orders the note in the cadastre but says nothing about where in a list nepokretnosti it appears or what wording identifies it. For a buyer reading the extract, that is the practical question, and we cannot answer it from this text. A second gap concerns sale. Article 73 allows a frozen property to be sold with the court's consent in two situations: where the cost of keeping and maintaining it significantly exceeds its value, or where the asset is at risk of deterioration. The manner of sale is left to the Government, and article 94 gives sixty days for secondary legislation, which from 8 September 2026 falls on 7 November 2026. We found no such regulation published as of today.
Our reading
Two habits change on the buyer's side. Take the cadastral extract close to signature rather than relying on the copy obtained at preliminary contract stage, because the note comes into existence with the order and its date matters. And keep the reasoning behind the price on paper: article 2(4) treats a price obviously out of line with real value as an indication of knowledge, so a bargain can be read against you later. A valuation and a bank payment trail are the two documents that answer that point.
If you hold a right rather than a purchase, the clock in article 52(4) is the one to watch. Silence after notification costs the right to claim, and article 52(5) reopens it only for someone who proves the absence was not their own fault. Creditors should read article 54 alongside it: once a measure is in place, enforcement, forced collection of a tax claim and voluntary liquidation cannot be started against that property, proceedings already running are stayed, and limitation periods are interrupted for that time.
What did not change
The law creates no rule aimed at foreigners; the test is the origin of the property, not nationality. Rules on acquiring real estate, forming a company and obtaining residence in Montenegro are untouched by this text, and it introduces no tax or duty. A bona fide purchaser keeps the protection written in article 52(1). Confiscation cases already begun under the old law continue under it, though where a first-instance decision is quashed and sent back, the new law governs the rest (articles 92 and 93).
How to verify
The official text sits on the gazette's own page: sluzbenilist.me/propisi/397923. The articles worth opening are 22 for the list of measures, 33 for duration, 52 for the bona fide third party and 96 for entry into force. The index of issue 131/2026 is on the same site; the record shows 8 September 2026 as the date of entry into force and 2255 as the registration number. The asterisk footnote at the end of the law states that its provisions transpose Directive 2014/42/EU.
On the register side the document to read is the list nepokretnosti, and it is worth checking separately whether your agent is entered in the brokers' register, which we set out in our note on the estate agent register. If a purchase or a company file in Montenegro is open, the question of which records to refresh before signature fits inside the wider frame on our real estate investment page, and we will publish the update on the Government regulation under Legal Updates.
