The courts in Montenegro lack 67 judges, and the insufficient interest of young lawyers in working in the judiciary, especially in the north of the country, contributes significantly to the shortage of staff.
Interlocutors of the MINA agency believe that the inadequate salaries for judges make this profession uncompetitive among lawyers and that the provision of better working and financial conditions should make the profession of judge more attractive.
In the Judicial Council, they expect to fill a significant number of missing positions this year, since 42 candidates for judges have been sent for training at the Center for Training in the Judiciary and the State Prosecutor's Office.
The Council told the MINA agency that there are currently 268 judges serving in Montenegrin courts, instead of the 335 there should be once the Decision comes into force, doubling the number of judges in the Special Department of the High Court in Podgorica.
As indicated by the Council, last year the termination of office was established for 18 judges - nine due to obtaining the conditions for retirement, five at personal request, three due to election to another office, while one judge's office was terminated by application of the Constitution because he was sentenced to an unconditional prison sentence .
It is expected that during this year five more judges will acquire the right to pension.
According to the data of the Judicial Council, the High Court in Podgorica, after the decision to increase the number of judges in the Special Division, currently lacks the most judges - ten.
The Basic Courts in Herceg Novi and Kolašin each lack four judges, and the Basic Court in Rožaje has the same number of judges, where only the president of the court works.
The Appellate Court of Montenegro and the basic courts in Berane and Bijelo Polje each lack five judges, and the court in Žabljak, in addition to having no judges, has not even had a president for more than a year.
The Basic Court in Plav and the Misdemeanor Court in Bijelo Polje are the only ones operating at full capacity.
Milan Radović, program director of the Civic Alliance (GA), said that Montenegro faced a significant shortage of judges primarily due to the wave of mass retirements triggered by the 2020 Pension Law, which lowered the retirement age.
That law, Radović explained, also offered a special incentive, allowing judges who retired a year or two earlier to receive their full salary for that year.
He pointed out that there is a noticeable problem of the lack of auxiliary and administrative staff, which creates a serious administrative burden for judges, and the lack of appropriate equipment and technology that could facilitate and make the work of judges more efficient.
The President of the Judicial Council, Radoje Korać, said recently in an interview with the MINA agency that they expect to fill the number of missing judges in almost all first-instance courts by the end of this year.
The Judicial Council said that during the past year, 50 advertisements were published to fill vacant judge positions in Montenegrin courts, and that 42 candidates for judges are undergoing training at the Center for Training in the Judiciary and the State Prosecutor's Office.
"After completing the initial training, depending on the type of court for which they were selected as candidates, and after determining the grade achieved in the training, they should be elected as judges and assigned to courts during this year," the Judicial Council stated.
He pointed out that there is little interest in working in the judiciary, especially for positions in courts in the north of the country.
Speaking about the circumstances that most influence young lawyers to give up on a career in the courts, the Judicial Council said that it is the uncertainty of where they will perform their judicial duties, but added that it is a legal solution that must be respected.
As they explained, there was previously a problem because candidates for judges had to complete an 18-month training in Podgorica, however, with the amendments to the Law on the Judicial Council and Judges from July last year, the training period was reduced to 12 months with the possibility of completing the practical part of the training in the courts in their place of residence or temporary residence.
"Another circumstance that is of great importance is the inadequate salary for judges, which makes this profession uncompetitive among lawyers," added the Judicial Council.
And Radović notes that the problem of the lack of judges to fill existing vacancies is fueled by the lack of interest of new judges to join this profession.
"Some of the reasons are certainly the lengthy process for a lawyer to become a judge, poor working conditions, the unpredictability of a judge's final assignment to a particular court depending on the municipality, low salaries during the training period, as well as a general negative attitude towards the judiciary, which has been declining in recent years," Radović said.
In his opinion, inadequate remuneration further reduces the attractiveness of judicial careers.
"Despite the relatively higher salaries of judges compared to the national average, the fees for entry-level judicial positions are still insufficient, which contributes to the low attractiveness of this profession," said Radović.
He believes that it is necessary to create adequate financial and other conditions in order to stimulate the best students of the Faculty of Law to make their career in the judiciary.
Radović said that the lack of adequate salary is particularly worrying because it can create conditions for corruption, which compromises the integrity and independence of the judiciary.
"In order to work on preserving judicial integrity and public trust, the recommendations of the Civic Alliance are to amend the law in the part where it would be ensured that members of the Council who initiate disciplinary proceedings do not participate in decision-making," said Radović.
He said that, although the legal framework of Montenegro is partially harmonized with international human rights standards, problems such as unauthorized extensions of mandates and delays in the appointment of key judicial functions have undermined the stability of the judiciary.
The Deputy Prime Minister for the Political System, Justice and Anti-corruption, Momo Koprivica, said during a recent visit to Rožaj, a city where only the President of the Basic Court holds the office of judge, that the Government is planning a set of additional measures in order to solve the problem of insufficient interest in working in the judiciary in the north of the country. system mode.
As it was announced at the time from the cabinet of Koprivica, at the meeting with the management of the municipality, the possibilities for planning stimulating measures for the engagement of professional staff, primarily young educated lawyers, in judicial bodies in the north, especially in Rožaje, were discussed.
"The government is taking concrete measures and planning additional systemic mechanisms to encourage professional staff to engage in judicial bodies in the north, and these, along with the provision of modern spatial conditions, are extremely important projects in terms of strengthening the capacity of judicial institutions," the cabinet of Koprivica announced at the time, but it is not specified what kind of measures and incentive mechanisms we are talking about.
The text was written as part of the project "Improving Citizens' Knowledge of Human Rights Using Modern Forms of Communication", which was financially supported by the Embassy of the United States of America (USA).
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