The Case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and reliable reports from the ground confirm that Montenegro is still faced with issues in dealing with cases of torture and ill-treatment. The Council of Europe continues to provide support to the Montenegrin authorities to ensure that education and information regarding the prohibition against torture are fully included in the training of all persons who may be involved in preventing and processing cases of ill-treatment.

With that aim, the second training for legal professionals on the fight against ill-treatment and impunity took place on 13-14 November 2017 in Podgorica. The training was successfully delivered by the national trainers, who were trained with the Council of Europe´s support, following the training manual on the prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment that was developed in line with the Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) methodology.

The training brought together judges, prosecutors, lawyers, NGO representatives, and police who engaged in a vibrant discussion on issues regarding investigation and documentation of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The training increased their knowledge on how and why torture and ill-treatment occur in different situations, with the aim to more effectively prevent and protect against violations.

A training course on prohibition of torture is included in the in-service training programme of the Judicial Training Centre (JTC), and subsequently, three additional cascade trainings will take place in the following months.

The training program is designed and implemented within the framework of the Action “Fighting ill-treatment and impunity and enhancing the application of the ECtHR case-law on national level – FILL”.