Montenegro

The Law on Legal Aid adopted: UNDP assisted Montenegro in achieving equal access to courts for all citizens

Podgorica, 5 April 2011

The Parliament of Montenegro adopted the Law on Legal Aid, after a broad consultative process which was supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Montenegro, through its project “Reform of the Legal Aid System in Montenegro – Creating an Effective and Sustainable System of Providing Legal Aid”. The Law stipulates that the inhabitants of lesser financial means are entitled to legal aid, hence helping to fulfil the constitutional determination of Montenegro that all inhabitants must be equal before the court, regardless of their special or personal characteristics.

The Law defines that legal aid includes legal advice, preparation of pleadings, representation in court proceedings, in the State Prosecution, at the Constitutional Court, as well as in the procedures for out-of-court settling of disputes. The circle of beneficiaries of legal aid is determined, as a rule, by the financial situation of the applicant. The financial status is determined based on applicants’ income and assets, as well as incomes and assets of their family members.

According to the Law, besides Montenegrin nationals, the beneficiaries of the legal aid services will also be stateless persons lawfully residing in Montenegro, persons seeking asylum, aliens with permanent or approved temporary residence and other persons legally residing in Montenegro. It should be emphasized that the poorest and most vulnerable groups of population will be eligible for legal aid, including social welfare beneficiaries, children without parental care, persons with special needs and victims of domestic violence and human trafficking. Legal aid disproportionately affects women, due to the fact that unemployment rate is significantly higher among the female population and, thus, they are more frequently unable to afford legal counselling. The expected impact of this Law can also be perceived from the figures obtained through the analyses performed in the scope of the Project, which indicate that the estimated number of legal aid cases in 2012 will equal to 4% of the overall number of cases received in all Basic courts in Montenegro per year.

It is envisaged that the implementation of the Law starts as of 1 January 2012, while in the meantime the authorities are expected to establish legal aid offices in Basic Courts throughout Montenegro. It is anticipated that the costs of implementation of the proposed interventions for 2011 amount to €165 000, and in 2012 to €1.16 million.

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About the UNDP’s Reform of Legal Aid System Project

The UNDP’s Reform of Legal Aid System Project aims to assist the state of Montenegro to create an effective, efficient and affordable state-funded and run legal aid system and therewith assist the state in fulfilling its obligations under international human rights laws. The Project consists of two components related to drafting and implementation of the Law on Legal Aid, and is funded by the Government of the Netherlands with USD 215,827, the Government of Norway with USD 143,884  and the UNDP TRAC resources with USD 21,500.
 
Within the Reform of Legal Aid System Project, the UNDP supported the Ministry of Justice in the organization of a series of round tables and a number of public discussions on the Working version of the Law on Legal Aid, held in central, northern and southern parts of Montenegro. The round tables were attended by representatives of national institutions, civil society sector, international community, professionals and general public. Through this process, the Draft Law was provided with expert opinions, remarks, proposals and suggestions.

UNDP assisted in a number of other ways to ensure transparency, high quality and compliance with international standards in establishing of Legal Aid System in Montenegro:

• The Law on Legal Aid was complemented by a Fiscal Impact Analysis, containing a detailed budget for the costs that the state would have to cover for the Legal Aid System functioning.
• An expert support was provided to the Ministry in producing the Analysis on Gender Sensitivity of the Law on Legal Aid.
• A Draft Law on Legal Aid was published along with the invitation for giving comments in daily newspapers, as well as on the Ministry of Justice’s website: http://www.pravda.gov.me/vijesti/95516/Ministarstvo-pravde.html. After a broad public discussion the Draft Law on Legal Aid was revised by including all relevant comments.
• A website on legal aid has been created: www.pravnapomoc.me, where all relevant documents, analyses, announcements of events and comments were made available to the public.
• Based on the current model of provision of legal aid services described in the Law, a Pilot project was launched in the Basic Court in Podgorica. Its purpose was to collect data for assessment of the expected implementation of the Law, as well as to measure the number of requests for provision of these services. The Bar Association of Montenegro provided the Ministry of Justice with a list of lawyers who will provide their services during the Pilot project’s duration.
• The premises in the Basic Court in Podgorica, where the Office for legal aid services will be placed, were reconstructed and equipped with IT equipment and necessary office furniture.
• After launching the Pilot Project in the Basic Court in Podgorica, two more Pilot projects were initiated in the courts in the north of Montenegro, which is the poorest area of the country. Basic Courts in Pljevlja and Rožaje were selected to be the Pilot project courts, while UNDP is planning to equip the offices and train the staff.
• As Montenegro adopted a granting legal aid model similar to Slovenia,  two study visits to that country took place for the presidents of the Basic Courts in Podgorica, Bijelo Polje, Pljevlja and Rožaje and the courts’ staff appointed to work in the legal aid services. The purpose was to get an insight in legal aid services’ granting procedures in practice.
• Many documents on legal aid were translated into Montenegrin language. Translated documents, such as rulebooks on the content and manner of keeping records on legal aid, on legal aid requests, on conditions and legal aid approval procedure, etc., will all be of great help in the implementation of the Law.
• The cooperation with NGOs in the legal aid field continued, and creation of a regional network of legal aid NGOs was supported, since according to the Law, NGOs have the right to provide legal aid services.
• In October 2010, a regional conference “Legal aid – experiences from SEE Region” was organized in cooperation with the Montenegrin NGO “Youth initiative for human rights”, together with Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Bosnian and Kosovar NGOs. On that occasion all relevant NGOs in the region dealing with legal aid presented their experiences in providing legal aid services, and a Declaration of cooperation in the area of legal aid was signed.
• Finally, the UNDP Montenegro, together with the UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre, hosted a two-day Regional Community of Practice Meeting in the area of legal aid, legal empowerment and alternative dispute resolution for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The meeting was held in Podgorica, Montenegro in September 2010 and it gathered representatives of UNDP Country Offices from Europe and CIS and their national counterparts in the field of legal aid and alternative dispute resolution. The meeting provided a platform to discuss specific challenges, issues and lessons learned; showcase national experiences; learn from the practices in the region, with specific focus on disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, including minorities; and learn from the Montenegrin experience.