Montenegro has paid out more than 43 euros in the first six months of this year following decisions by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. During that period, Montenegrin citizens filed 30 new lawsuits against the state, according to the semi-annual report of the Office of the Representative before that court, which was recently adopted by the Government.
The non-governmental sector warns that these data confirm that systemic problems have still not been resolved. On the other hand, the Ministry of Justice announces amendments to the Law on Civil Procedure in order to speed up trials, and thus reduce the number of appeals before Strasbourg.
The fact that trials in Montenegro can take a long time is not news; it has been a long-standing practice. And this is one of the main reasons why we are still among the leaders in Europe in terms of the number of cases initiated before the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In the first six months, that court issued one verdict and ten decisions against Montenegro, according to which the state paid 43 euros in compensation. The most money, around 38 euros, was paid for violations of citizens' rights due to the excessive duration of proceedings before the Constitutional Court. These data come from the semi-annual report on the work of the Office of the Representative of Montenegro.
"These data show that Montenegro has not fulfilled its obligation - it has not provided timely protection of citizens' rights. The losses of disputes in Strasbourg due to violations of the right to a trial within a reasonable time show that systemic problems have still not been resolved," Amra Bajrović from the non-governmental organization (NGO) Human Rights Action (HRA) pointed out to Television Vijesti.
In addition, in the past two years, citizens have most often turned to the Strasbourg Court for lengthy bankruptcy and administrative proceedings, as well as for violations of property rights. However, last year brought a record number of cases initiated and the amount of funds paid out. The state had to pay out 6,4 million euros, almost all of which related to the enforcement of judgments issued in favor of 605 former workers of the "Radoje Dakić" factory.
"According to the annual report of the European Court of Human Rights for 2024, the state of Montenegro ranked fourth among the member states of the Council of Europe in terms of the number of applications submitted to that court in relation to the number of inhabitants," the Office of the Representative of Montenegro before the European Court of Human Rights stated in the responses to Television Vijesti.
Although the excessive duration of proceedings before the Constitutional Court remains the main reason for initiating disputes in Strasbourg, the Office of the Ombudsman states that their duration has been significantly shortened compared to the period before 2024.
"In 2024 and 2025, the average length of proceedings before the Constitutional Court of Montenegro is a year and 8 months. Since a petition to the European Court of Human Rights can only be submitted after the Constitutional Court has issued a decision, the increase in the number of resolved cases on constitutional appeals before the Constitutional Court has also influenced the increased number of petitions submitted before the European Court of Human Rights," the Office of the Representative of Montenegro before the European Court of Human Rights stated in the responses to Television Vijesti.
The Constitutional Court recently announced that all cases in which Strasbourg was interested this year have been completed, thus at least eliminating the damage caused by the continued duration of these proceedings.
Additionally, in September, the Government ordered the Ministry of Justice to consider changes to the law to speed up court proceedings.
Minister Bojan Božović's department says that work on amendments to the Law on Civil Procedure is nearing completion and that they expect the European Commission's approval soon, after which the law should proceed to the further adoption procedure.
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