The Association of the Blind of Montenegro organized a conference in Podgorica today called "Access justice and achieve it!" where the results of the "Achieve Justice" project, which was realized by that association in the past 12 months, are summarized.
The project is financially supported by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights with the general goal of improving the position of visually impaired people in access to justice, which is planned to be achieved through providing equal access to justice for PWDs, improving access to justice based on human rights principles and raising the awareness of the social community about the importance of equal access to justice.
The issue of access to justice, as Mediabiro writes, becomes even more significant bearing in mind that PWDs are often exposed to discrimination, they are one of the categories that face daily violations, impediments and restrictions on the realization of various rights prescribed by national and international legislation, and they are often in the position of victims. violence.
"In order to be able to have legal protection against all these unwanted procedures and to be able to exercise their rights and interests in an equal way, it is necessary that access to justice be available to persons with disabilities in the same way as it is available to persons without disabilities. Through this project, we tried to shed light on different ways of accessing justice in relation to the PWD," said the executive director of the Association of the Blind of Montenegro, Goran Macanović.
As part of the project, as reported by Mediabiro, it was monitored to what extent the judicial authorities are accessible when it comes to the physical accessibility of the facilities where the judicial authorities are located, as well as access to information. An important segment of the analysis was monitoring how legal authorities decide in cases where PWDs are parties, and whether and to what extent they use the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as the most important legal document for PWDs.
"Unfortunately, the results are devastating. Judicial authorities almost never use the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The convention is a document that explains in a very good, detailed and clear way how and what should be done in order for people with disabilities to exercise their rights in various areas of life. Also, in Montenegro, there is a lack of education for judges and employees of judicial bodies on the issue of persons with disabilities and the model based on human rights," added Macanović.
Due to this lack of education, as part of this project, the Association organized three trainings for judicial and prosecution employees for the northern, central and southern regions of Montenegro, and Danijela Milić Cavnić, adviser to the Misdemeanor Court in Podgorica, attended one of these trainings.
"By attending this two-day training, I must admit that I gained a much broader picture of the obstacles of PWDs on the way to justice, which are truly numerous. PWDs are still exposed to discrimination, they still do not have proper access to facilities and areas, there is no support for life in the community due to the underdevelopment of numerous services at the local level. Therefore, in the Court for Misdemeanors in Podgorica, in the last five years, we have provided an inclined lifting platform at the entrance, an orientation board in Braille, stickers on some doors and tactile paths that allow people with impaired vision to move independently. When it comes to securing information, the Court for Misdemeanors strives to secure information in accessible formats, and this should be singled out as a positive example, even though it is only the beginning and an introduction to more complete adaptation with the recommendations of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities," said Milić Cavnić. .
That there is still plenty of room for improvement was also shown by other results of the Analysis of judgments in relation to discrimination of persons with disabilities with recommendations presented by the representative of the Association of the Blind of Montenegro, Anđela Dragović.
"Usually, in the answers to the questions we sent, it is stated that the information is not in accessible formats, not even in electronic form, and that the institutions do not even try to make it possible. On the other hand, it was stated in the monitoring that PWDs often come with an escort, which should by no means be a reason not to adapt information in accessible formats, regardless of whether accessibility refers to Braille, enlarged print, electronic form. One accessibility does not exclude the other and all this is equally important in order to create an accessible environment where people with disabilities could be equal parties in the proceedings," said Dragović, among other things.
The executive director of the Association of Disabled Youth, Marina Vujačić, believes that the accessibility of judicial institutions is not even close to the obligations of Montenegro. He reminds that 2013 was the deadline for all previously built buildings to be made accessible, and for all newly built buildings to be accessible from the start, which was not done. On the other hand, problematic terms and definitions remain in the laws.
"We need reform in every possible segment, I mean also human behavior and actions. This society, this system and these institutions do not work enough with the families of people with disabilities, and therefore families with PWDs very rarely manage to cope, despite not receiving adequate support, to empower PWDs to be independent and active. I believe that in this area, at least when it comes to the outcomes of judicial proceedings, greater pressure from PWDs and those who deal with their rights will lead to different practices in the system itself," said Vujačić.
Andrija Samardžić, president of the Association of the Blind of Montenegro, also reminded of the disputed laws concerning persons with disabilities.
"We have the disputed Law on Signature and Handwriting Certification, we had a Draft Law on facsimile, the solution of which was not considered at all, let alone accepted, as far as I am aware. Just signing is an acknowledgment that you have participated in the procedure, which has not been adequately addressed for visually impaired people. The terminology used to address visually impaired people is not adequate. The most important thing when we talk about procedural adaptations is that during the hearings we actually have non-verbal communication with the judges and other representatives of those institutions, which to the greatest extent is not accessible to visually impaired people," said Samardžić.
Samardžić explains that a large number of these problems persist due to non-application of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
"Our society is in fact losing the opportunity to use one mode to solve the issue of equality and equal opportunities in an easy and simple way. Our biggest problem is that we are running out of time and that the Convention was alien to us in some crucial moments for the development of society and was not a tool for us, and it would be useful not only for the PWD but also for various institutions," said Samardžić.
The representative of the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms, Nemanja Dujović, reminded that according to the Convention, the state is obliged to remove all barriers that PWDs face and that prevent them from participating in the community on an equal basis.
"Barriers in the field of accessibility are one of those barriers, perhaps they are the most visible, and I dare say that they are also the easiest to solve, and the situation in that area is still not solved. In addition to acting on complaints, the role of the Protector also refers to spreading awareness of the need for the rule of law and human rights of both persons with disabilities and other categories of the population, and certainly this meeting is an opportunity to point out all the problems that exist in our society and that create barriers to PWDs cannot participate in social life. I hope that the situation will change and that soon we will have facilities that are accessible to PWDs in the full sense of the word accessibility," said Dujović.
The special guest of the conference was the representative of the Union of the Blind of North Macedonia, Gligor Samardžijski, who pointed out the situation with the application of the Convention in the region, and encouraged all the representatives of the institutions who invested effort within this project to continue the fight for the rights that all people deserve.
Although productive communication has been established, and the analysis has indicated all the segments that should be improved when it comes to the possibility of PWD access to justice and the judicial system, the executive director of the Alliance of the Blind notes that this is only the beginning of activities that would lead to improvements in the position of PWD in all spheres of life.
"We still have a lot of space to use our initiatives to encourage the institutions of the system to improve the area of access to justice, and I hope that this final conference will motivate and impose the issue of the importance of access to justice for persons with disabilities as an important issue in the work of the entire justice system in Montenegro," he pointed out. Macanović.
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