In 2017, the Constitutional Court of Montenegro found on several occasions that the State Prosecutor’s Office had failed to conduct an effective investigation in line with European standards on the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment. These decisions constituted an important step in the fight against impunity, as they demonstrated a high level of awareness of Montenegrin judges of the European standards and the European Court of Human Rights case law. Although the State provided victims with adequate compensation for these incidents, it failed to provide effective investigations into the allegations of torture and ill-treatment by identifying and punishing all alleged perpetrators. Lack of effective investigations into allegations of ill-treatment by state authorities still remains a major challenge in Montenegro's EU accession process.

The high-level Conference was held in Podgorica on 10 May 2010, involving the relevant national authorities including judges and prosecutors, civil society representatives, representatives of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) and two Judges of the European Court of Human Rights. The Conference identified the most acute challenges for ensuring effectiveness of investigations in Montenegro, opened the discussion for possible solutions and allowed the sharing of best practices and experiences of other countries by the representatives of the CPT and the Strasbourg’s Court.

The Conference marked the end of the action "Fighting ill-treatment and impunity and enhancing the application of the European Court of Human Rights case-law on national level in Montenegro", implemented by the Council of Europe within the Joint Programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe "Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey". The action, which lasted for almost three years, strengthened the capacities of judges, prosecutors and lawyers to apply human rights standards in their day-to-day work.