The Court of Appeal overturned the first-instance verdict of the Higher Court in Podgorica, which acquitted Vladimir Dimov, Miodrag Pavličić, and Eldin Lamežević of charges of negligent treatment of patient Danka Komnenić (32), who died on March 18, 2016.
The appeals of the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica and the attorney of the injured family were upheld, so the Court of Appeal, in response to these appeals and ex officio, overturned the verdict and returned the case to the first instance court for a retrial.
The decision was made after a public council session on November 28, 2025.
"By the first-instance verdict, the accused Vladimir Dimov, Miodrag Pavličić and Eldin Lamežević were acquitted of the charge of committing a serious crime against human health because it was not proven in the proceedings that the accused committed the crime for which they were charged. Appeals against the aforementioned verdict were filed by the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica and the attorney of the injured family," the Court of Appeals reminds in a statement.
In the appeals process, the Court of Appeal determined that the first-instance verdict was affected by significant violations of the provisions of criminal procedure, which are described in detail in the reasoning of the decision, essentially because the first-instance court provided incomplete, unclear and contradictory reasons for establishing causation in the criminal offense in question, the act of which was determined as an act of omission, or causation between the omission of a certain action and the occurrence of the consequence of the criminal offense.
In addition, the Court of Appeals found that the first instance court had incorrectly determined the factual situation, which resulted in the annulment of the first instance verdict and the return of the case to the first instance court for a retrial.
The first instance court was instructed that it was necessary to re-examine the essential violations of the provisions of criminal procedure, present all previously presented evidence and any other evidence it found necessary, and after establishing all decisive facts, to comprehensively assess the actions of all the accused individually and to provide complete and clear reasons when drawing a conclusion on the causal link between the actions of each of the accused and the consequences that occurred, and their guilt.
The decision of the Court of Appeal of November 28, 2025, with detailed reasons, will be published on the website of that institution.
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