Aims
  • To further enhance professionalism, accountability and the overall quality of service of the judicial system of Montenegro
  • To ensure functioning of the Judicial and Prosecutorial Councils, Centre for Training, as well as of the Center for Mediation on Montenegro in line with European best practices and standards
  • Focusing on ethics, liability and integrity, the Action will further strengthen, improve or in some cases assist to create the relevant ethical codes and mechanisms for monitoring the compliance among legal professions such as lawyers, bailiffs, notaries and court experts
Duration
The project will be over a period of 36 months (24/05/2019-23/05/2022)
Budget
  • The total budget of the Action is 800.000 EUR
  • The budget allocated to the overall Horizontal Facility programme amounts to ca. 41 Million EUR (85% funded by the European Union, 15% by the Council of Europe)
Beneficiaries
  • Citizens of Montenegro, who will benefit from modernised judicial administration and institutions, through user-centered approach, as well as professional and ethical judiciary and legal professionals
  • Judicial Council, Prosecutorial Council, Supreme Court of Montenegro, Office of the Supreme State Prosecutor, Center for Training in Judiciary and State Prosecution Service (JTC), Ministry of Justice of Montenegro, Bar Association, Chamber of Public Bailiffs, Chamber of Notaries, Association of Court Experts, Association of Court Interpreters and Center for Mediation of Montenegro
Publication

Code of Ethics for Notaries in Montenegro (Eng, Montenegrin)

How will the action work
  • Through capacity building of crucial judicial institutions in Montenegro
  • Through creation of ethical codes and mechanisms for monitoring the compliance
  • Through providing expertise to the relevant bodies in Montenegrin justice system
  • Through promotion of the judiciary, mediation and quality of mediation services and tools for their monitoring and improvement
  • The Action builds upon the results achieved by the Action “Accountability of the Judicial System” (HF14), implemented in the Horizontal Facility phase I (2016 – 2019)
Expected results
  • Judicial and Prosecutorial Councils, as well as Courts and Prosecutorial offices, improve the financial and administrative management of their institutions and the communication with court users.
  • Judges, prosecutors and other legal professionals improve their application of ethical and disciplinary procedures in line with European standards and best practices.
  • Judges and prosecutors are recruited, promoted and evaluated according to improved standards
  • Center for Training in Judiciary and State Prosecution Service is efficient, using confidently and applying new approaches and methods to plan, implement, evaluate and improve training programs for judges and prosecutors
  • The Centre for Mediation improves its effectiveness and functioning
How to get further information
Montenegrin website
Project news

Back Workshop on disciplinary responsibility and ethics of judges and state prosecutors

Montenegro - Horizontal Facility: Accountability and professionalism of the judicial system
photo: Shutterstock

photo: Shutterstock

Disciplinary responsibility is one of the building blocks of an accountable judicial system, which interacts between two fundamental principles of a modern society: independent adjudication and the need for public confidence in judiciary. In order to achieve this balance, ethical and disciplinary systems in one country need to function effectively and without bias, to ensure integrity of judicial officials and protect the dignity of the judicial profession.

Still, as per the conclusions of the online workshop held on 9 December 2020 in co-operation with the Judicial Training Center: a disciplinary liability of a judge or a prosecutor does not always imply the violation of the professional ethics, nor do all breaches of ethical rules constitute a disciplinary offence. The workshop gathered members of the Ethical and Disciplinary Commissions, Disciplinary Prosecutors and members of the Judicial and Prosecutorial Councils and focused on the distinction between disciplinary offences and violations of judicial ethics. The workshop was facilitated by Council of Europe consultants (one international and one local), with the aim to further support the Montenegrin judiciary in strengthening the role and capacities of disciplinary prosecutors and ethical and disciplinary commissions.

During the workshop, a wide range of issues was discussed among the Council of Europe consultants and the members of the Montenegrin judiciary, focusing on the concrete connections between freedom of expression, social media and judicial ethics. Matters related to gender equality were also elaborated and illustrated by the practical examples from the Council of Europe member states. The national legal framework and practice were analysed and discussed as well, based on concrete examples of decisions of the ethical and disciplinary bodies and focusing on the most critical issues and challenges to be addressed in the local context.

The workshop was organised under the action “Accountability and professionalism of the judicial system in Montenegro” (Montenegrin website) within the framework of the European Union and Council of Europe joint initiative “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.

Podgorica, Montenegro 10 December 2020
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