A working meeting took place on 3-4 June 2021 to discuss recommendations on further aligning the rights of suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings with the EU acquis and case-law of the Court in Strasbourg. In the previous period, the joint European Union/Council of Europe action "Improved procedural safeguards in judicial proceedings in Montenegro" supported the development of baseline studies, which served as a starting point for the discussion with national authorities.

The representatives of the relevant institutions agreed that procedural rights in Montenegro are in many respects already consistent with the requirements of the European standards, but there are still some important elements, both in terms of legislative framework and of its application in practice, where improvements are needed in order to achieve full compliance with the standards.

The action will further support the working group tasked with the revision of the criminal legislation in light of the relevant standards, considering that it is one of the priorities under the EU negotiations process, set out in the National Strategy for Reform of Judiciary in Montenegro.

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