The European Union and the Council of Europe support the law faculties of Montenegro to integrate the practical human rights education into regular curricula. With that aim, the Agreement on Co-operation in realisation of the human rights legal clinic in Montenegro has been signed between the Faculty of Law of the University of Montenegro, Faculty of Law of the University of Donja Gorica, Faculty of Law of the Mediterranean University and the Association of Law Students of Montenegro ELSA.

The Agreement on Co-operation defines the forms of co-operation and regulates mutual rights and obligations between the parties in order to implement legal clinics in the field of human rights for law students in Montenegro.

The aim of the co-operation is for students to acquire the theoretical and practical knowledge in areas related to the respect and protection of human rights developed both in the EU acquis, and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, with a particular focus on the issues relating to domestic violence, protection of women, children and other “gender minorities”, primarily LGBTIQ population.

During the academic year 2020/2021, the work will be organised in two semesters, focusing both on the theoretical and practical knowledge, in close co-operation with legal practitioners, free legal aid offices, non-governmental organisations dealing with victims of domestic violence. Therefore, the students will be well-equipped to provide legal aid in regular cases submitted to free legal aid services working within national basic courts, following all the standards of profession and professional legal ethics, contributing to the system of providing free legal aid in the public interest.

The action "Improved procedural safeguards in judicial proceedings in Montenegro" is a part of the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.