In the work of public bailiffs, in the previous three years of their existence, large abuses were noticed, but with the introduction of this legal institute, the courts were relieved of a large number of enforcement cases, according to the panel of the Center for Monitoring and Research (CeMI).
At the panel "Public bailiffs in Montenegro", which was organized in cooperation with Action for Human Rights, with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, it was announced that public bailiffs, in three years, received about 200 thousand cases and collected 150 million in monetary claims.
The President of the Management Board of CeMI, Zlatko Vujović, assessed that the work of public enforcement officers has become "very controversial" in a short period of time.
"We had something that few expected - that criminal proceedings were initiated against two presidents of the Chamber of Public Executors. Major abuses in the work of public executors were also noticed. This caused a lot of damage to the public's trust in the work of public executioners," Vujović said.
According to him, in the Study on Public Bailiffs, prepared by CeMI, it was indicated that the conditions for someone to become a public bailiff "are not at a high enough level". "We are witnessing that public bailiffs have taken over part of the jurisdiction of the courts, so they should follow the conditions that exist for the selection of judges."
The president of the Chamber of Public Bailiffs, Vidak Latković, said that public bailiffs have received about 200 cases in their work to date, of which, as he stated, many have been resolved.
"In three full years, we collected 150 million euros in claims. Since the introduction of public bailiffs, we have relieved the courts of a large number of enforcement cases, which significantly burdened the work of judges. We have made the executive procedure faster and more efficient," Latković pointed out.
Last year, out of the 60 cases received, we solved 20, that is 30 percent, which puts us in the average of European countries.
The Director General of the Directorate for Justice in the Ministry of Justice, Marijana Laković Drašković, believes that civil discipline has been achieved with the introduction of executive functions in Montenegro, explaining that citizens settle their obligations in terms of utility payments and electricity costs more regularly.
She reminded that the Ministry of Justice adopted a new Regulation on the tariff of public bailiffs, amended and supplemented two laws - on enforcement and security and on public bailiffs.
"When it comes to the Law on Public Executors, the changes went in the direction of improving the conditions regarding the performance of enforcement activities. Public bailiffs who do not have the Judicial Exam, but have the Bailiff's Exam, will be obliged to take it within a year from the date of entry into force of the law, and vice versa," stated Laković Drašković.
She believes that it is necessary to recognize public bailiffs as public officials in the Law on Prevention of Corruption to declare their assets.
Laković Drašković announced that the number of judicial inspectors, who supervise the work of public enforcement officers, will be increased, and there are currently few of them.
The author of the Study "Public Bailiffs in Montenegro", Momčilo Radulović, said that it is necessary to standardize the knowledge of public bailiffs, by passing both the Bailiff's and Judicial Exams.
"Ignorance is no excuse for doing bad things. It is important to standardize this area and for the public bailiff, when he gets to that position, it is understood that he has a solid amount of knowledge at his disposal," said Radulović.
According to him, when it comes to the regulation of disciplinary responsibility, the set of provisions in the initial law was not well specified, stating that a lot of things have been fixed with the new changes in that act.
"The supervision and control of the work of public enforcers and the connection of institutions that determine and forward data on the responsibility of the enforcers is now better legally resolved. In the meantime, institutions have improved communication," said Radulović.
He believes that the status of public enforcers is still quite unclear whether they are public officials or not.
"When it comes to problems related to tariffs and the method of payment, a large number of problems have been solved with the new tariff, and some remain. Most often, it concerns specifying the relationship between institutions, so that no subject in the execution process is at a loss, but that those costs are evenly distributed when it comes to responsibility," stated Radulović.
The panel was held within the framework of the project "Toward the efficiency of the judiciary - improving the development of the profession in connection with the Montenegrin judiciary" financed by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
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