The civil sector is shocked by the draft amendments to the CC: They are defending criticism because we are tarnishing their "image"

Part of the non-governmental sector strongly criticized the changes to the Criminal Code prepared by the Ministry of Justice, which foresees a fine or prison sentence of up to six months for those who publicly expose themselves to contempt, that is, criticize the court or the prosecutor's office.

MANS yesterday condemned, as they claim, the Government's intention to narrow the already narrow circle of those who do not hesitate to publicly talk about the state of the Montenegrin judiciary and thereby protect the already significantly damaged public image of key people in the prosecution and judiciary.

Action for Human Rights, the Media Union, lawyers and media editors previously expressed objections to the draft amendments to the Criminal Code, claiming that the Ministry wants to bring back the verbal offense and does not want to create conditions for tougher penalties for attacks on journalists.

HRA and the Union proposed to prescribe the new criminal offenses "attack on journalists in the performance of professional tasks" and "obstructing journalists in the performance of professional tasks" and supplement the existing criminal offenses of grave murder and grievous bodily harm.

The Director of the MANS Research Center, Dejan Milovac, assessed yesterday that with the proposed amendments to the Criminal Code, the Government is trying to protect the judiciary from well-founded criticism due to more than satisfactory results in the fight against corruption and organized crime.

"The goal is to silence that part of the civil sector and the free media that point to failures in the work of courts and prosecutors and the chronic lack of institutional and individual responsibility for the state of the judiciary today. The proposal of the Ministry of Justice to criminalize criticism of the work of the prosecution and the judiciary represents a step backwards in the adoption of European values, which the Government officially advocates," Milovac claims.

He states that public criticism in "normal countries is a necessary and desirable corrective to the behavior of state institutions."

And the NGO Institute for the Rule of Law said that the introduction of the new criminal offense "exposure to contempt of the court or the state prosecutor's office" represents an attack on freedom of expression, guaranteed by the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. "What will the court consider mockery and where is the line between criticism and mockery? This type of incrimination can seriously limit the work of the media and the civil sector, as well as any form of expression, especially satire, which can lead to ridicule, and the IVP believes that it should not constitute a criminal offense", the NGO's announcement states.

They remind that in accordance with the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, the use of satire, even the use of satire, as well as ideas that can be offensive, are protected as part of freedom of expression, provided that it is not hate speech or incitement to violence.

The deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Dan" Nikola Marković assessed that the proposal to punish with a prison sentence those who allegedly expose the work of the prosecutor's office to ridicule and comment on court proceedings is an attempt to return a verbal delict.

"If this proposal is adopted, those who draw or publish a caricature with the image of the special prosecutor will have to go to prison, for example. I believe that the inaccuracies in this proposal were left in order for the courts to be able to creatively interpret what defamation is and thus create the conditions for sanctioning the media that do not write according to their will," he said.

Laković - Drašković: No one submitted comments to the Ministry

The Director General of the Directorate for Justice of the Ministry of Justice, Marijana Laković - Drašković, invited interested organizations and individuals to submit proposals to the Ministry of Justice for draft amendments to the Criminal Code.

"We expect that interested organizations, institutions and individuals will address the Ministry of Justice with constructive proposals and suggestions in order to finally adopt a high-quality law that will see adequate application in practice," she told "Vijesti".

The director of the Directorate for Justice commented on the criticism of the civil sector for "Vijesti" and said that no organization submitted comments during the public debate on the draft amendments to the CC. "On January 11, 2017, the Ministry of Justice issued a public invitation to citizens, the scientific and professional public, state bodies, political parties, NGOs, international organizations, the media and all interested organizations and communities to join the public debate and give their input in considering the draft of the Law on Amendments to the CC," she said.

She says that after the public hearing, which lasts 40 days, the Working Group of the Ministry will consider the proposals and publish the report from the public hearing on the website.

"The purpose of the public hearing is to submit comments and suggestions in order to obtain the best possible legal solution... The NGO Action for Human Rights and the Trade Union did not submit any correspondence during the public hearing, but we are aware from the media that the mentioned organizations have certain comments and objections to the draft," she said.

Marijana Laković - Drašković states that the goal of amending the CC is, among other things, harmonization with the conventions of the Council of Europe and the United Nations, the standards of the European Court of Human Rights and other international documents, the Istanbul Convention and other international documents