A solution to the staffing crisis in the Bar Basic Court, which has four judges out of the planned 11, including the court president, is not in sight. Cases are piling up and citizens are suffering, claim local lawyers, while the Judicial Council is waiting for fresh staff.
The fact that instead of 11 judges, four are deciding cases is a consequence of the fact that, as of 2022, Goran Šćepanović, Ljiljana Bulatović, Snežana Dragojević and Boris Bulatović were elected as judges of the High Court in Podgorica, while judge Valentina Vuković was assigned to the Basic Court in Podgorica through an internal advertisement.
Judge Zoran Lekić became eligible for old-age pension in November 2022, while one judge has been on sick leave since August 2024 and it is uncertain whether he will even start working.
Because of this situation, local lawyers protested in front of the courthouse last month, demanding and appealing to the Judicial Council to resolve the staffing crisis that they claimed was causing citizens and their rights to suffer.
In February, an internal advertisement was published to fill two vacant positions in the Bar court, through the voluntary permanent transfer of a judge to a court of the same jurisdiction and the same or lower level, for which there were no candidates.
Radmila Đurišić from the Secretariat of the Judicial Council told "Vijesti" that the filling of vacant judicial positions in basic courts has continued and it is expected that a significant number of missing judges will be filled in almost all first instance courts this year, bearing in mind that a number of candidates for judges are already in training, but also that new advertisements are underway.
"Advertisements will be ongoing until all vacancies in all basic courts are filled. There is a shortage of 35 judges and two court presidents for basic courts. There is a shortage of 12 judges for the southern region," she said.
At the moment, as he states, there are 26 candidates for judges of basic courts undergoing training, of which two are candidates for judges of the Commercial Court, one candidate for judges of the Administrative Court and five for misdemeanor courts.
Đurišić reminds that an advertisement for the selection of 15 candidates for judges of basic courts in the central and southern regions is underway. What is new compared to the previous Law on the Judicial Council and Judges is that the training for candidates for basic courts now lasts 12 months, not 18 as in the previous period. Also, in accordance with the same law, the Council distributes the selected candidates according to the achieved order from the ranking list.
"It is expected that, as soon as the candidates who are currently undergoing training complete their training, they will be elected as judges and assigned in accordance with legal provisions, and considering that there are six vacant positions for the Basic Court in Bar, that court will also receive judges," Đurišić assessed.
She also pointed out that in February, an internal advertisement was published to fill two vacant positions in the court in Bar, through the voluntary permanent transfer of a judge to a court of the same jurisdiction and the same or lower level, for which there were no candidates.
Bar lawyers whom "Vijesti" spoke to, and who protested in front of the Basic Court in Bar at the beginning of last month, reiterated that they are all aware that this situation cannot last long without serious consequences.
They emphasized that this affects not only their clients who are trying to exercise their rights, but also the judges themselves, since they are created with unfavorable and thankless working conditions, which degrades their profession.
Unless urgent intervention is made, they fear that even those judges who are dedicated will decide to seek employment elsewhere.
The president of the Bar court, Tamara Spasojević, previously told "Vijesti" that they have around 3.000 active cases.
Lawyers once again warned that due to this situation, almost every current case represents an example of a violation of the right to a trial within a reasonable time.
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