The first person of the Minor Offences Court in Podgorica Branko Vujacic He said that the institution is facing an increasing burden due to domestic violence and public order violations, as well as an alarming increase in the most serious traffic offenses, especially driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, among which there is an increasing number of young drivers. He pointed out that the public often underestimates the gravity and scope of the work that the court performs, even though misdemeanor proceedings decide on cases that have a direct impact on the safety of citizens and the functioning of society.
In an interview with "Vijesti" he said that the Minor Offences Court in Podgorica, which applies more than 300 regulations and processes around 16.500 cases annually, does not only deal with so-called easy cases, but also with complex cases in the areas of violence, corruption, tax and customs offences, recalling that in one case, that court imposed a fine of almost 807.000 euros, which is among the largest minor offence sanctions in Montenegro.
Is the Montenegrin public sufficiently familiar with the work of misdemeanor courts in Montenegro, and especially what scope of everyday life they encompass?
It is certain that the public is not sufficiently familiar with the gravity, seriousness and significance of the life and legal situations that this court treats through misdemeanor cases and proceedings. It is often mistakenly believed that the Misdemeanor Court primarily resolves harmless cases, and that the subject of the hearings is benign criminal offenses, most often in the field of traffic. In fact, its substantive jurisdiction covers a much broader and socially sensitive spectrum of proceedings - from the violation of public order and peace, through misdemeanors from the field of the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence, which are often both normatively and practically bordering on a criminal offense, where special attention is paid to the protection of victims and the prevention of additional victimization, to misdemeanors related to violence at sports events and performances. The court also considers misdemeanors related to non-compliance with tax and customs regulations, regulations on public health and protection of the population from infectious diseases, prevention of corruption and numerous other areas. This diversity means that the Misdemeanor Court resolves issues of immediate importance for the safety and functioning of the community.
Traffic violations and domestic violence are the most frequently mentioned cases in the media. What about other cases?
The court receives the largest percentage of indictments from the areas of the Law on Road Traffic Safety and the Law on Communal Activities, which further complicates the organization of judges' work. However, there is also a significant number of cases from the Law on Public Order and the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence.
During 2024, 2.484 cases were filed in the field of public order and 1.141 cases under the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence. In 2025, as of September 30, 2.199 and 916 such cases were filed.
The slight decrease in the number of domestic violence cases is a consequence of amendments to the Criminal Code, which criminalize certain forms of behavior more strictly. In public order cases, extremely serious and deviant situations are often discussed, and it is not uncommon to impose protective measures of mandatory psychiatric treatment - outpatient or in closed institutions.
New forms of violations are emerging - corruption, competition, party financing...
Special dedication, work and organizational effort are required in cases involving misdemeanor matters in the areas of the Law on Corporate Income Tax, the Law on Personal Income Tax, the Law on the Prevention of Corruption, the Law on Financing Political Parties and Election Campaigns, the Law on Competition Protection, the Law on Consumer Protection, the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, the Law on the Prevention of Illegal Business, the Customs Law, the Law on the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases, and the Law on Nature Protection. For example, in the nine months of 2025, counting the time period from January 1 to September 30 of this year, the court formed 12 cases in the field of the Law on Protection of Competition, 44 cases in the field of the Law on Consumer Protection, 83 Customs cases, 16 cases in the field of the Law on Prevention of Illegal Business, 216 cases in the criminal matter of the Law on Financing Political Parties and Election Campaigns, 922 cases in the field of the Law on Prevention of Corruption, 57 cases within the field of the Law on Profit Tax on Legal Entities, the Law on Personal Income Tax and the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, 10 cases in the criminal law field of the Law on Nature Protection, and 157 cases in the field of the Law on Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases. It must be emphasized here that the Minor Offences Court in Podgorica applies over 300 regulations in its proceedings, and that the above statistics are only a benchmark for thinking and structuring a more objective picture of the complexity of the work in this court.
The increase in driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs is worrying. What does the data show?
I will return to the topic of the criminal law of the Road Traffic Safety Act, through the prism of objective observation, a conclusion can be drawn about the alarming situation in the social community, about the general disregard for traffic regulations, and the creation of an environment where traffic culture and safety are shaken. Namely, every day, misdemeanor courts, and especially this court, form these types of misdemeanor cases, where the priority is beginning to be given to serious misdemeanors from Articles 317 a, 318 and 319 of the cited law, primarily misdemeanors in which the act of driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, psychoactive substances and exceeding the prescribed speed limit.
The Minor Offences Court in Podgorica, with its headquarters in the Capital City, not counting the departments that integrally belong to this court, received a total of 715 requests for the initiation of minor offence proceedings in the period from 01. 06. to 30. 09. 2025. on the basis of which minor offence cases were formed. This concerns the processing of two types of minor offence cases, namely minor offence cases in which regular minor offence proceedings are conducted, and urgent detention cases in which persons deprived of their liberty are referred to the judges on duty and, as a rule, a ruling is made on the same day and the decision is publicly announced. Therefore, these 715 established misdemeanor cases, both regular and pre-trial, relate to misdemeanors under Article 319, paragraph 1, item 19 of the Law on Road Traffic Safety (driver, young driver and novice driver who drives a vehicle in road traffic under the influence of alcohol in a concentration of 0,5 to 1 g/kg), Article 318, paragraph 1, item 14 of the cited law (driver, young driver and novice driver who drives a vehicle in road traffic under the influence of alcohol in a concentration of 1 g/kg to 2 g/kg), Article 317a, paragraph 1, item 3 of the cited law (driver, young driver and novice driver who drives a vehicle in road traffic under the influence of narcotic drugs, other psychoactive substances or is under the influence of alcohol in a concentration of 2 g/kg or higher), and Article 323, item 1 of the aforementioned law (young driver and novice driver who drives a vehicle in road traffic under the influence of narcotic drugs, other psychoactive substances or is under the influence of alcohol in a concentration of 2 g/kg or higher). under the influence of narcotic drugs, other psychoactive substances or under the influence of alcohol in a concentration of 0,1 g/kg to 0,3 g/kg).
Can a lenient penal policy encourage repeat offenses?
The number of perpetrators is increasing at a younger age, often up to 24 years old. The Law on Road Traffic Safety applies an unjustifiably lenient penalty policy towards young drivers - for driving under the influence of drugs the fine is from 60 to 200 euros, without penalty points and a driving ban. Such a solution is not rational and may act as an incentive.
Approximately 16.500 misdemeanor cases annually
What is the annual influx of cases?
On average, over 16.500 misdemeanor cases are filed annually, which means that each judge is assigned about 1.700 new cases per year. At the court headquarters alone, more than 100 participants go through the proceedings on a daily basis.
The fine was reduced from 800.000 to 40.000 euros.
Is the information about a fine of around 800.000 euros for one company correct?
In one case that was finally concluded, where the applicant for the initiation of misdemeanor proceedings was the Agency for the Protection of Competition of Montenegro, the Misdemeanor Court in Podgorica, as the first instance court, imposed a fine of 806.953,09 euros on a legal entity from Podgorica for violating the Law on the Protection of Competition. The responsible person in that legal entity was acquitted due to lack of evidence. The Higher Misdemeanor Court, deciding on the appeal, reversed the decision and reduced the fine to 40.000 euros, while the rest of the first instance decision remained unchanged.
Statute of limitations and collection
According to statistics, by far the most statutes of limitations occurred in the Podgorica Court of Misdemeanors, which includes departments in Nikšić, Danilovgrad, and the Royal Capital of Cetinje. In the period from 2020 to 2024, there were a total of 15.058 statutes of limitations in this court. Why?
Special attention should be paid to the fact that the Minor Offences Court in Podgorica has been burdened for a long time, specifically with regard to the proceedings themselves, by frequent procedural obstacles in their conduct, both in minor offence so-called PP cases through the inability to ensure the presence of parties and other participants in the proceedings, and in executive so-called IPS cases through the inability to realize forced collections. Short deadlines stipulated by law for initiating and conducting proceedings that realistically determine the very process of processing and dealing with cases. In the recent period, I can freely say that the Court has not achieved promising results in terms of the percentage of resolved cases and the collection of imposed fines and procedural costs, taking into account a significant percentage of suspended proceedings due to the onset of the statute of limitations for their conduct or execution.
Between January 1 and September 30, 2025, this court had 59.677 cases in its docket, of which 37.896 were in the PP section and 21.781 in the IPS section, of which 15.807 PP cases and 10.119 IPS cases were resolved.
How many fines and costs of misdemeanor proceedings have been collected, and has the statute of limitations for the collection of fines expired?
In the mentioned period, there were 1.312 misdemeanor cases in which the absolute statute of limitations for the conduct of the proceedings occurred, while in the enforcement department there were 1.032 statute of limitations cases. The total amount of fines paid and procedural costs amounted to 1.539.113,25 euros in the indicated period. In the enforcement department, in the relevant time, there were 661 cases in which the defendants were sentenced to imprisonment, of which in 40 cases the statute of limitations for the execution of this sentence occurred, or 143 cases that were discontinued due to deaths, unsuitability for execution and other reasons.
This is a worrying fact, which may overshadow, marginalize or simplify the work and results of this court, whereby this situation must not be a trend and through my role, I will strive, through adequate organizational changes within the court and a proactive and intensive approach, to influence the reduction of this negative result.
However, I must emphasize that one of the crucial and disruptive factors that diminishes the results of action and ultimately implementation are most often process determinants.
Namely, this court in the seat of the Capital suffers from major problems related to the execution of procedural measures, ensuring the presence of defendants and the smooth conduct of the procedure, i.e. non-execution of orders for forced bringing, and which non-execution directly affects the procedural slowdown of the conduct of court proceedings and the inability to make meritorious decisions, i.e. thwarting forced collections in enforcement proceedings. Also, it is not uncommon for applicants, probably due to a staff deficit, to fail to provide authorized representatives for the stated number of cases and consequently the number of daily scheduled hearings and hearings. In order to prevent such situations and improve work in correlation with other higher instances, this court holds and will hold frequent meetings and constructive dialogues with responsible persons of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Montenegro, and in order to establish a single standard and fluid communication, it has established a service for communication with police officers, the so-called contact persons.
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