A consultative meeting on the new implemented system on the professional evaluation of judges, held on 14 February 2019 in Petrovac, gathered judges from all Basic and Misdemeanour courts in Montenegro who will undergo such professional evaluation in 2019.

The Council of Europe Programme Office in Podgorica, in co-operation with the Judicial Council and the Center for Training in Judiciary and State Prosecution, organised the consultative meeting with the aim of presenting the relevant legal framework, the evaluation procedures and experience gathered through the implementation of the professional evaluation of judges in Montenegro so far.

The discussion triggered between the judges and the representatives of the Judicial Council Commission for professional evaluation of judges clarified many issues and provided additional explanations on the selection of the evaluation criteria.

Representatives of the Judicial Council emphasised that a successful professional evaluation of judges is the precondition for protection of the judicial independence and improvement of quality and efficiency of the judicial system.

The consultative meeting was organised in the framework of the Action “Accountability of the Judicial System”, jointly funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe.