The adoption of a new, comprehensive and harmonized legal framework for conducting elections, the appointment of the President of the Supreme Court by December of the current year, amendments to the Law on the Election of the President of Montenegro by June 2026, are just some of the steps that the state has planned to implement as part of the Reform agendas.
The reform agenda, which defines a set of reforms that Montenegro must implement in order to receive money from the European Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, received a positive decision from the EU member states on Friday at the Instrument for Pre-Accession Support (IPA) Committee.
Minister of European Affairs Maida Gorčević said that after the European Commission approves the reform agenda, Montenegro will receive the first tranche of 29 million euros by the end of the year.
"Today, the representatives of the EU member states at the IPA Committee supported the Montenegrin Reform Agenda through which we will access funds in the amount of over 380 million euros... Today's decision of the Committee confirmed that the Government has developed a feasible implementation plan and high-quality content of the reforms," Gorčević announced two days ago. of days on the X network.
The reform agenda, which was adopted by the Government of Montenegro on September 26, states that, when it comes to the rule of law, with the adoption of the final benchmarks for Chapters 23 and 24, Montenegro received the support of all EU countries, but also the message that the final phase of negotiations requires constant focus and the same level of commitment to reforms, especially in the areas of the judiciary, the fight against corruption and organized crime, freedom of expression and the media.
"One of the key strategic goals in this area will be the improvement of access to justice, transparency and trust in the judiciary, thus enabling legal security, law and order as a horizontal prerequisite for economic activity and the implementation of all measures defined by this Reform Agenda," the document states. .
Limited progress
It is stated that Montenegro has been making limited progress in the field of justice for many years, without sufficient progress in the implementation of key reforms in the field of justice and with a limited balance of achieved results in terms of judicial accountability.
It is emphasized that there have been certain long-awaited high-level appointments in the judiciary, however, the position of the President of the Supreme Court has not yet been filled.
"It is necessary to additionally strengthen the effective independence, integrity, responsibility and professionalism of the judiciary, among other things, through the implementation of the relevant constitutional and legal framework and the adoption of legislative changes in accordance with European standards. It is also necessary to strengthen the efficiency of the judiciary. Human, financial, ICT and infrastructural resource management systems must be significantly improved. It is necessary to adopt a new plan for the rationalization of the judicial network, as well as the Strategy for Digitization of the Judiciary".
Corruption and high-level corruption are said to remain issues of concern.
"Additional efforts are needed to establish a credible and effective criminal justice response, and to demonstrate this, Montenegro must continue to work on improving the balance of results in terms of investigations, prosecutions and final judgments in the fight against corruption, including high-level corruption level. The legal and institutional framework should be improved in accordance with the EU acquis and European standards, among other things, for the effective use of financial investigations and confiscation and confiscation of assets in such cases".
Electoral reform
The document states that the key activity will be the adoption of a new, comprehensive and harmonized legal framework for conducting elections, in accordance with European standards and existing recommendations of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). , as well as the Council of Europe.
It is recalled that on December 28, 2023, the Assembly passed the Decision on the establishment of the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform, which is obliged to prepare Bills and other acts related to the purpose and tasks of the Committee by December 31, 2024 at the latest and to submit them Assembly for adoption.
This also applies to amendments to the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament regarding the professionalization of the State Election Commission, strengthening the independence of election commissions. It is stated that the work of the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform is based on laws - the Law on the Election of Councilors and People's Deputies, the Law on the Electoral Roll, the Law on the Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns, and the Law on Residence and Residence Registers.
The second step involves amendments to the Law on the Election of the President of Montenegro (June 2026).
In the judicial sector, the reform implies that the judiciary and the prosecution are independent, impartial, responsible and act with integrity and professionalism.
"In the area of justice, through the improvement of the constitutional and legislative framework, it will contribute to the implementation of the most significant reform priorities established in the negotiation Chapter 23, all with the aim of improving the rule of law and protecting fundamental rights."
It is stated that the reform processes will be carried out through amendments to the Constitution, the Law on the Judicial Council and Judges and the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office, in accordance with the acquis of the EU and European standards.
The first step, as stated, is the election of the President of the Supreme Court by December of the current year.
The second step is the amended Constitution, in accordance with the acquis of the EU and European standards on the independence, responsibility, integrity, impartiality and professionalism of the judiciary and prosecution.
The third step, the document states, is the full implementation of the system of appointment, performance evaluation and promotion of judges and public prosecutors in accordance with the amended Law on the Judicial Council and Judges and the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office. This should be implemented by December 2027.
Effective against corruption
In the anti-corruption sector, the reform implies effective enforcement of anti-corruption legislation, including high-level corruption, including financial investigations and seizure and confiscation of assets, in accordance with the EU acquis, European and international standards.
The first step in that part is the implementation of the Strategy/Action Plan for the fight against corruption:
"Integrity tests are created and delivered by the Customs Administration and the Tax Administration - the goal is to reach at least 30 percent of employees, and activities are being carried out for the adoption and implementation of the new Code of Ethics of the Customs Administration, especially regarding the obligations stipulated in the Strategy for the fight against corruption and its Action Plan , which specifically refers to the property status of customs officials, conflict of interest and property declarations".
The second step implies improved results in the area of investigations, prosecutions, final judgments, confiscation and final confiscation in corruption, including high-level corruption cases.
“Show an overall increase in the number of investigations, confirmed indictments and convictions, including high-level corruption cases; show an increase in the number and total value of confiscation, freezing and confiscation of property benefits acquired through criminal acts; show an increase in independent financial investigations...", the document says.
The institution responsible for implementing this step is the Special State Prosecutor's Office, and the deadline is June 2026 - December 2027.
The document states that in cases of criminal acts of corruption, orders were issued to conduct investigations in eight cases against a total of 19 natural persons, and for criminal offenses of high corruption - eight orders to conduct investigations against 19 persons.
The European Commission previously announced that Montenegro will receive 383,5 million euros from this support mechanism, which will be available to the country until the end of 2027.
Of the total amount, 110 million will be grants, and the rest is provided through favorable loans.
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