Montenegro

Judicial reform

UNDP, through its Judicial Reform Programme (JRP), has been providing policy and technical support to the Ministry of Justice in its next major effort to attain a balance of power at the top of the political pyramid. The National Strategy for Judicial Reform (2007) aims to bring Montenegro’s laws and legal system into compliance with criteria for EU membership. The strategy lists four essential goals:

1. Enhancing the independence and autonomy of the judiciary
2. Enhancing the efficiency of the judiciary
3. Enhancing accessibility of judicial bodies, that is, access to justice
4. Enhancing public trust in the judiciary

 

More specifically, the strategy states that the judiciary should be:

• independent, autonomous and functional
• accessible to all persons
• fair to and respectful of all persons
• effective, efficient and open
• ready to act in compliance with the Constitution, law and international instruments, abiding by the principle of the rule of law
• unbiased, unprejudiced and consistent in providing equal legal protection to all parties
• actively engaged in encouraging alternative methods of dispute resolution
• ready to respond to the changing needs of the community in a timely and high-quality manner
• committed to the fight against crime and ready to efficiently cooperate with other authorities in achieving this goal

 

In order to achieve those goals the JRP assisted the government in drafting an ambitious Action Plan that lists 292 specific goals. Croatia had launched a similar effort to reform its judiciary prior to Montenegro's attempt. The Croatian action plan was studied thoroughly. Montenegro's draft action plan was submitted to the European Commission for consideration and was returned with no significant revisions recommended. The old adage that a gram of prevention is worth a kilo of cure proved true and Montenegro was saved a good deal of time and money because of the studiousness and diligence of those charged with drafting the Action plan, which was released in December 2007. The government struck a supervisory committee to monitor the progress of the Action plan in 2008.

The JRP is contributing to the effort to enhance transparency and accountability in the judiciary by aiding in the drafting of a new Criminal Procedure Code and a new Criminal Code. The draft Criminal Procedure Code is now in the hands of the European Commission for consideration and a draft of the new Criminal Code is being worked on.

Both codes will be instrumental in fighting corruption within the judiciary. The JRP has made every effort to endow the judiciary with new investigatory powers. Every effort is being made to assure the public, the legislature and organizations concerned with privacy that the powers sought are neither draconian nor aimed at law abiding citizens.

In order for Montenegro to fight corruption more effectively there must be an understanding of what, exactly, constitutes corruption. The JRP, in conjunction with UNDP Montenegro’s Anti-corruption Programme, will provide anti-corruption training for the country’s judges and prosecutors who have had very little background in the area. The training provided will be based on the Anti-corruption training programme which was adopted by the Judicial Training Centre in December 2008. That document was jointly produced by UNDP and members of Montenegro’s judiciary.

The JRP has provided sophisticated electronic equipment to the judiciary and developed a unique database for the police, prosecutors and courts, which contains data on persons and cases from the area of organized crime and corruption. The JRP has also supplied a database for the Judicial Training Center, and provided IT equipment for the Ministry of Justice, the courts and the Prosecutor’s offices.

The effort to make Montenegro’s legal system accessible and fair to all is being aided by the JRP under an initiative to extend legal aid into the area of civil law. Citizens already enjoy the right to legal counsel in criminal matters. A review of the need for civil legal aid was completed in November 2008 and a draft law on the provision of legal aid, according to EU standards, is being worked on. The JRP is striving to assure that the draft law will emphasize accessibility to women and other vulnerable groups. Once the draft law has been completed, the citizenry will be provided an opportunity to comment. After the draft is revised (if revision proves to be necessary) and the new law is passed, the infrastructure to implement the law will be developed, staff will be trained and a public awareness campaign launched. Partnering with UNDP on this effort are UNHCR, OSCE, FOSI, Council of Europe and NGOs.

Between January 2009 and July 2010 the JRP will undertake another project to strengthen the capacities of the Ministry of Justice. Specifically, the project aims to:

• improve the structural setup of the Ministry
• strengthen management skills within the Ministry
• raise understanding of European integration and of international legal assistance/co-operation processes
• modernize IT infrastructure
• build capacity in the Ministry to effectively create and maintain public relations