The European Court resolved 195 petitions from Montenegro

Last year, the European Court of Human Rights resolved 195 petitions from Montenegro, according to the Analysis of Judgments of that Court (ECtHR).

The analysis, which was presented in Podgorica, was prepared by the Supreme Court of Montenegro and the Office of the Representative of Montenegro before the European Court of Human Rights in cooperation with the AIRE Center and with the support of the British Embassy in Podgorica.

As announced by the AIRE Center for the Western Balkans, it is a review that brings insight into the decisions of that institution on petitions related to Montenegro, regarding access to rights prescribed by the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights.

"The analysis is also the fourth document of this type, which together provide a comprehensive overview of all judgments related to Montenegro from 2009 to the end of last year, as well as the main messages that the Court, through its judgments, sent to Montenegrin colleagues for future action," he says. in the announcement.

Acting President of the Supreme Court, Vesna Vučković, stated that the ECHR shows that Montenegro is among the countries that largely execute and respect the judgments of the European Court.

"It is a strong indicator of the state's attitude towards international obligations, but also a vow by us judges that we will continue to execute the judgments of that court dedicatedly in the future," said Vučković.

She said that Montenegro perceives the judgments of the ECtHR as a significant contribution to the improvement of the Montenegrin legal system, in an effort to work on strengthening national institutions in order to more effectively protect human rights and freedoms.

"But also to use international standards in future proceedings, which would then be integrated into its judicial system", added Vučković.

The AIRE Center said that, last year, a total of 381 petitions in relation to Montenegro were assigned to one of the judicial formations of the European Court, emphasizing that 89 percent of the petitions were assigned to an individual judge or a Board of three judges.

"They decide on the preliminary admissibility of the application and in most cases reject them due to failure to meet the admissibility conditions," said the AIRE Center.

It is stated that eight percent of the total number of petitions passed the initial examination stage and were assigned to a Council of seven judges or a Board of three judges who examine the merits of the petition.

"During the reference period, the ECtHR found a violation of article three of the Convention in the Baranin and Vukčević case, which refers to the prohibition of torture in the procedural aspect, and article five in the Asanović case, which deals with the right to freedom and security," said the AIRE Center.

They said that a violation of Article XNUMX in the Sinistaj case, which deals with the right to a fair trial, and Article XNUMX in the Špadijer case, which refers to the right to respect for private and family life, was also found.

In the Ražnatović case, the court found that there was no violation of Article XNUMX of the Convention, i.e. the right to life.

Director of the AIRE Center for the Western Balkans, Biljana Braithwaite, said that this is the first analysis in which the majority of violations do not relate to the duration of proceedings before regular courts, and on some issues, the European Court decided for the first time in relation to Montenegro.

"Thus, in the Sinistaj case, a violation of the right to trial before the Constitutional Court of Montenegro was established for the first time, and with the Špadijer verdict, the European Court set basic standards for deciding cases related to abuse at work," noted Braithwaite.

As it was announced, out of a total of 195 petitions resolved in relation to Montenegro last year, 189 petitions were declared inadmissible or deleted from the list of cases, while the remaining six petitions were resolved by the European Court through a verdict.

The head of the political team of the British Embassy in Podgorica, Rachel de Souza, said that respect for human rights is the basis of democracy, without which there can be no rule of law.

"The harmonization of domestic practice with the standards of the European Court of Human Rights will positively affect citizens' trust in the judicial system, so that court decisions will be more and more consistent," said de Souza.

She said that the United Kingdom remains committed to reform in the area of ​​the rule of law in Montenegro and continuously cooperates with the AIRE Center in order to strengthen the capacities of the judiciary to implement that reform.

As announced, the analysis was prepared by the judge of the Supreme Court Miraš Radović and the representative of Montenegro before the European Court of Human Rights, Valentina Pavličić, with the support of judge Boško Bašović, judge Tijana Badnjar, as well as advisers at the Office of the Montenegro representative before the ECtHR, Jelena Rašović and Simone Jovanović. .

State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice Bojan Božović stated that there are always new challenges and the need for additional training and opening up of topics that constantly arise from practice and theory.

"I believe that this gathering, like few others, will return us to the primal, in the legal sense of the word, what human rights mean for all of us," said Božović.

He said that the essence of human rights is reflected in making people legally powerful, both among themselves and in relation to all other entities.

As he added, they are there to legally protect and limit the power of the state and all the powerful, that is, subjects in the legal order.

"In addition to the numerous features that human rights have in every sense, this event will remind us how much they are an integral part of every legal order," concluded Božović.