Montenegro

Anti-corruption training programme for Montenegrin judges and prosecutors

Podgorica, 8 December 2009

One of the key components of the UNDP Anti-corruption project is to assist the Government of Montenegro to fulfill is commitment on aligning its legislation with UNCAC which Montenegrin Parliament ratified in October 2006, as well as to help in following and solving the issues that EC Delegation sees as priorities in the area of judicial reform.

The Ministry of Justice of Montenegro, OSCE Mission to Montenegro and UNDP organized an event with an aim to present and promote the Anti-corruption training programme for judges and prosecutors. The Programme will be jointly realized by the Ministry of Justice, UNDP, OSCE and Judicial Training Center, with the financial support from the Government of Norway.

At the presentation of the Programme H. E. Mr. Miraš Radović, Minister of Justice at the Government of Montenegro said that national legislation was mainly harmonized with the European regulations governing the area of fighting corruption and organized crime, but that still there were laws that must be synchronized. He said that Montenegro would train prosecutors and judges during the next year to achieve the necessary integrity to fight corruption and meet EU standards. “Social, economic and political progress of society depends on the ability to resist crime. The training will cover the most important aspects in the field of prevention and combating corruption, with emphasis on topics related to personal and institutional integrity in the judiciary and the identification of corruption as well as challenges when it comes to criminal investigations of corrupt acts,” explained Minister Radović. He also pointed to the fact that the successful fight against corruption required a viable normative framework for justice to achieve its mission. “Analysis showed that our normative framework largely complies with the international documents that prescribe standards for the fight against corruption,” he concluded.

Supreme State Prosecutor, Ms. Ranka Čarapić explained that education was directed particularly to those judges and prosecutors who are responsible for the subjects in the field of corruption. “Education will include the study of international conventions dealing with corruption and the application of international standards into national legislation,” she said, and she added that a special aspect of the training would be devoted to human rights. The program was granted the real needs of holders of judicial functions, when it comes to the model of education, which, as she stated, will be practical, and it is expected that the training would improve the knowledge of judges and prosecutors. Supreme State Prosecutor Čarapić added that after one year of training the prosecutors will need further improvement, where the support of international experts is expected.

Ms. Paraschiva Badesku, Head of OSCE Mission to Montenegro said that the training sessions would refer both to general anti-corruptive policies and disclosure, prosecution and processing of cases with elements of corruption.

“The fight against organised crime and corruption along with judicial reform continue to be government priorities, as mentioned in the latest EC Progress Report,” said Mr. Francisco Roquette, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative. “However, a far reaching objective of all the relevant country stakeholders should be to increase the dialogue on important social issues related to the fight against corruption and organized crime. We hope that through realization of our plans we will help in strengthening the Montenegrin judiciary as one of key elements, along with the political will and adequate human and administrative resources, for creation of effective framework for fight against corruption,” Mr. Roquette underlined.

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The Anti-corruption training programme for judges and prosecutors is one of the most significant outputs of the project “Strengthening the Capacities of Judiciary in Montenegro to Fight Corruption and Organised Crime”. Since early 2008, with the support of the Norwegian Government, this project has been assisting UNDP’s national partners - the Ministry of Justice, Supreme Court and Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office - to promote new institutes and procedures which will contribute to a more efficient fight against corruption and organized crime.

UNDP also assisted in drafting of the Anticorruption training programme for judges and prosecutors, and it contains a situation analysis, suggestions for improvement and a training plan. This document was adopted as the official training programme in this area by the Judicial Training Center, and will be used by this institution for the purpose of unifying training and donors who will support anti-corruption efforts.

With the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro as the main partner, UNDP has been present in the Montenegrin judiciary since 2004. In 2007, UNDP supported drafting of the crucial document for the judicial reform “Action plan for the implementation of the strategy for reform of judiciary”.

Ever since 2007 the Government of Norway has been a strong partner in the activities and efforts within the UNDP judicial projects with the Ministry of Justice.

UNDP’s main focus is the judicial reform in general with emphasis on the following areas of intervention:

1. drafting of the legal documents in line with international and EU standards,
2. strengthening of the judicial capacities,
3. accountability of judges and prosecutors, and
4. access to justice.

In that sense, among other activities, UNDP supported the drafting of the new Criminal Procedure Code, and is supporting the drafting of the Criminal Code. UNDP also provided assistance to the Special Department for organized crime and corruption in Podgorica and Special Prosecutor for organized crime and corruption.

As an important factor, UNDP sees donor coordination and cooperation in the field of judicial reform, especially in terms of the reform of criminal legislation and its implementation, as well as following and solving the issues that EC Delegation sees as priorities in the area of judicial reform.
 
UNDP plans to continue the support to the Montenegrin judiciary in line with the EC priorities and requests and at the same time, by providing the continuity and sustainability through expert assistance, capacity development, supply of the necessary materials, curricula and IT support.