In the six basic courts, there are not enough judges to form a panel of three members, which means that all cases are automatically delegated to the higher courts, which then send them to colleagues in other municipalities where the situation is better...
The Code of Criminal Procedure stipulates that the court in the first instance judges in a three-member panel, except in the case of criminal offenses for which the main penalty is a fine or a prison sentence of up to ten years, when the first instance is judged by a single judge.
The most difficult situation is in the Basic Court in Žabljak, where no judge currently works.
"Six basic courts, namely: Žabljak, Kolašin, Plav, Pljevlja, Rožaje and Danilovgrad, do not have a sufficient number of judges for the formation of councils from Article 24 paragraph 7 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. According to the Decision on the number of judges in the courts, the number of judges in the Basic Court in Žabljak is expected to be two, however, at the moment this court does not have a single judge", the Secretariat of the Judicial Council told "Vijesta".
According to the CPC, the three-member panel decides in the first-instance courts on appeals against the decision of the investigating judge, makes decisions in the first instance outside the main trial, conducts the procedure and renders a verdict on a request requesting the execution of a criminal judgment of a foreign court...
"If, due to the insufficient number of judges, a panel from paragraph 7 of this article cannot be formed at a court that judges only in the first instance, the tasks within the jurisdiction of that panel will be performed by the panel of the immediately higher court", that act stipulates.
The Judicial Council explains that from the beginning of 2024 until October 1, a total of 1.027 cases were delegated, but that the judicial information system (PRIS) does not contain the reason for the delegation of cases from one court to another, apart from statistical data on the number of delegated cases.
According to their data, the most cases were delegated precisely from the court where there is no judge - Zabljak. They delegated 420 cases from that court.
From this court, they could not answer the questions of "Vijesti", but they instructed the journalist to seek answers from the High Court of Bjelopolje:
"Since there is no court president in the Basic Court in Žabljak, and no judges, the High Court in Bijelo Polje is responsible for our work, so you can contact them for all information," said the court.
Although they are not on the list of basic courts that have a problem with the number of judges that would form the panel, the Basic Court of Herceg Novi delegated 333 cases.
Data from the Secretariat of the Judicial Council show that 86 cases were delegated from the Basic Court in Kotor, 50 from Danilovgrad, 49 from the court in Pljevlja, and 30 from Cetinje.
According to the Council's data, the Podgorica Basic Court delegated 13 cases, their colleagues from Beran 11, Ulcinj seven, Kolašina five, Bijelo Polje three, and the court in Nikšić and Bar delegated one case each.
11 and seven cases were delegated from the higher courts in Podgorica and Bijelo Polje.
Data from the Secretariat of the Judicial Council, however, do not match those obtained from the courts, which record a significantly higher number of delegated cases...
Thus, instead of five, as recorded in the PRIS for the Basic Court in Kolašin, the data of that court show that 111 cases were delegated, from the Basic Court in Berane 26, Nikšić three, Podgorica Basic Court 19, and Cetinje 35, and from the Basic Court in Kotor 100.
The Judicial Council, however, clarified what it is about - it is about cases dismissed in PRIS as assignment on various grounds (due to lack of jurisdiction and the like).
The Kotor court explained what kind of problems they are facing - they lack a judge, and they are constantly receiving cases from their colleagues from Herceg Novi...
The system is in crisis
The Bar Association stated that the Montenegrin judicial system is in a serious crisis, both institutionally and personnel-wise.
"The long-term absence of a strategic approach to the selection and promotion of judicial staff has led to a significant drop in citizens' trust in judicial institutions. The process of selecting judges is extremely slow and inefficient, which makes it even more difficult to fill key positions. At the same time, the judges finally elected are often assigned and sent to cities where they have never lived before, which forces them to work in unfamiliar environments, far from their families, without paid expenses of living separately. This unadjusted personnel policy further complicates the already difficult situation in the judiciary", said the president of the Bar Association, Danilo Mićović, to "Vijesta".
Currently, no application has been submitted to the Bar Association for entry into the directory of legal trainees. This situation is truly alarming, since the legal profession is one of the sources of personnel for the entire judicial system of Montenegro, said Mićović.
He claims that, in addition, the judiciary faces a serious lack of motivation among judges, judging that judges' salaries are extremely low in relation to the responsibility and complexity of the work they perform: "Which makes it difficult to attract quality personnel to this branch of government."
"It should be pointed out that many judges are overloaded with a large number of cases due to a chronic lack of staff. This problem is particularly pronounced in the Special Court, where one judge in Montenegro handles more cases than the entire Special Court in Belgrade, and which excessive workload not only slows down the work of the judicial system, but also directly affects the quality and efficiency of court decisions. Mićović added.
He also said that the tax reform within the fiscal strategy of the "Europe Now 2" program further complicates the position of both judges and lawyers.
"The reform provides that interns in judicial bodies will receive a similar salary as judges, which is undoubtedly a very inadequate relationship considering the situation in which the judiciary is, especially considering the responsibility of their position. Lawyers are also affected by this reform, as evidenced by the fact that currently no application has been submitted to the Bar Association for entry into the directory of trainee lawyers. This situation is truly alarming, since the legal profession is one of the sources of personnel for the entire judicial system of Montenegro. If this trend continues, the formation and selection of judges in the future will be even more difficult, because the judiciary will be left without an adequate personnel base".
Mićović stated that fundamental reforms are urgently needed in order to improve the situation in the Montenegrin judiciary.
"Accelerating the process of selecting judges, introducing clear and transparent criteria for promotion, as well as improving working conditions are becoming key to restoring the efficiency of the system. At the same time, it is necessary to provide conditions in the legal profession that will enable the admission and education of new trainees, because without a stable base of personnel in the legal profession, the judicial system of Montenegro will not be able to function at a satisfactory level. Only through these reform steps can the independence, credibility and functionality of the judicial system be ensured," he said.
Courts of first instance, in a panel composed of three judges, decide on appeals against the decision of the judge for investigation and other decisions when it is determined by this code, make decisions in the first instance outside the main trial, conduct proceedings and pass a verdict on a request requesting the execution of a criminal verdict of a foreign court", it is written in the CPC
Is the referee missing or are there too many?
The Judicial Council previously explained to "Vijesta" that based on the amendments to the Law on the Judicial Council and Judges, the training for selected candidates for basic courts now lasts 12 months, six months less than before.
"After the initial training and determination of the evaluation from the same, the Judicial Council makes a decision on their selection as judges and distribution to basic courts according to their position on the ranking lists", they told "Vijesta" earlier.
At that time, they pointed out that the problem of the lack of judges is not only expressed in the Basic Court in Žabljak.
"At the moment, 39 judges for basic courts are missing. As the initial training was shortened to 12 months, we expect that these missing judge positions will also be filled", said the Judicial Council in August.
On the other hand, in the Plan for the rationalization of the court network, recently prepared by the Ministry of Justice, it is stated that Montenegrin courts have 50 percent more judges than the European average.
That document envisages the abolition of the Basic Court in Žabljak and Danilovgrad.
The presidents of the municipalities of Žabljak and Danilovgrad Radoš Žugić and Aleksandar Grgurović appealed that this should not be done.
Bonus video:
