More than two-thirds of citizens believe that Montenegrin courts are slow in issuing verdicts in cases of serious crimes, while only 11,4 percent believe they are efficient, a survey by the Civic Alliance (GA) showed.
The key findings of the research "Citizens' Trust in the Work of the Judiciary in Montenegro" were presented by Professor Miloš Bešić at the conference "Citizens' (Dis)trust in the Institutions of the System and Perception of the Work of the Judiciary", which the CA organized today at the European House in Bijelo Polje.
The conference concluded that, in order to increase citizens' trust in the institutions of the system, it is necessary to further focus efforts on improving strategic communication in the coming period, especially in crisis situations, which has been lacking in the past.
The CA said that the research results indicate a dominantly negative perception of the efficiency of the judicial system.
"As many as 67,3 percent of citizens believe that courts are slow in issuing verdicts in cases of serious crimes, while only 11,4 percent believe that they are efficient, which shows a low level of trust in the operational capacity of the judiciary when it comes to the most serious crimes," the statement says.
It is stated that the perception of judicial independence remains limited, as only five percent of respondents believe that courts and judges are very independent, while 25,2 percent believe that they are mostly independent, with a high proportion of those who cannot assess (41,6 percent).
This, as stated by the CA, among other things, indicates a pronounced level of insecurity and insufficient information among citizens.
The research showed that in a broader institutional context, citizens show a higher level of trust in the police (around 45 percent) than in judicial institutions (around 34 percent), confirming the trend of greater trust being given to institutions that are more directly present in citizens' everyday lives.
It is stated that a particularly significant segment of the research relates to the perception of recent cases of escape of convicted persons, with a focus on the case of Miloš Medenica.
"The data shows that 31,1 percent of citizens do not know who is responsible, while the remaining responses are distributed between the police (21,4 percent), the judiciary (25,7 percent) and the overall system (15,8 percent), which clearly indicates unclearly defined and insufficiently communicated lines of institutional responsibility," the statement says.
It is added that 60,2 percent of citizens rate the cooperation between judicial institutions and the Police Directorate as poor, while 39,8 percent consider this cooperation to be very good.
Commenting on the findings of research related to citizens' perceptions of the efficiency of the judiciary in the last year, according to which 20,8 percent of respondents believe that the situation has deteriorated, 18,7 percent that it has improved, 35,5 percent that the situation has remained the same, while 25 percent cannot assess, the head of the Higher State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje, Katarina Kljajević, stressed that all institutions must work to strengthen trust.
At a panel organized after the presentation of the research, she said that public perception is linked to a sense of fairness and the expectation of equal treatment before the law.
Kljajević said that perception depends not only on the outcome of the case, but also on citizens' awareness of the institutions' competencies, emphasizing that legality, efficiency, and impartiality are key factors that influence trust.
Speaking about the concrete steps taken by the Prosecutor's Office to increase transparency and timely information to the public, she recalled the new Communication Strategy and its importance in that context.
Kljajević emphasized that there is excellent cooperation with the police and courts, which is reflected in regular meetings and exchange of guidelines.
When asked to comment on the findings of the CA survey, according to which around 45 percent of respondents have confidence in the work of the police, the Head of the Regional Security Center "North", Haris Đurđević, said that the Police Directorate continuously monitors citizens' perceptions through various surveys and that it continuously cooperates with relevant international organizations.
He emphasized at the panel that public perception largely depends on the visibility of the concrete results of the institutions' work, adding that he believes that the Police Directorate is doing a good job in terms of communication with citizens.
Speaking about the Balijagić case and the issue of negligence and responsibility of police officers, in relation to the Internal Control check, irregularities or illegalities in the work of ten police officers were observed, which caused the initiation of disciplinary proceedings.
Judge of the High Court in Bijelo Polje, Sanja Konatar, addressed the panel on the finding that the length of court proceedings and delays in first-instance verdicts affect trust, emphasizing that perception depends on the experience of the parties and the way the media conveys information.
Speaking about the duration of proceedings, she pointed out that courts are facing a large number of cases and a shortage of judges, and that efficiency also depends on other participants in the proceedings.
Konatar pointed out that the situation is further complicated by frequent changes in the judges or the overturning of verdicts, which leads to the repetition of the proceedings.
She emphasized that in order to shorten the duration of the procedure, there is a clearly defined plan for resolving old cases, as well as priority treatment in urgent cases, filling judicial positions, and implementing digitalization measures.
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