Montenegro introduces new instruments to its legal system, EU supports their implementation

One of Montenegro’s challenges on its way to becoming a country with efficient legal system is the implementation of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Dusko Markovic told at the opening of the Twinning Project on the enforcement of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The project, financed by the European Union in partnership with French Agency for International Legal Cooperation, as DPM Markovic remarked, is aimed at increasing pace and efficiency of court proceedings and strengthening professional capacities needed for the successful implementation of the Code.

"The Code establishes a number of legal institutes that represent novelties in our legal system and the most significant of them is a change in the investigation concept, which relocates it out of courts to state prosecution," the DPM explained.

The Project, as he said, will focus on reinforcing resources of the Department for fight against organised crime, corruption, terrorism and war crimes, providing trainings for law enforcement officers, civil servants and Police Administration members, as well as on the support to the Commission for monitoring the Code’s implementation and promotion of new institutes in Montenegrin criminal law.

Nicola Bertolini, a chief of Operational Sector in EU Delegation to Montenegro, particularly stressed that the EC Opinion points to the need for achieving results in terms of investigation, prosecution and court rulings in organised crime cases, and that therefore strong efforts should be put in early stages of pre-accession process in order to do it on time.

In this context, he said that this project worth EUR 800, 000 should render assistance to the implementation of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as empower the prosecutors’ capacity so that they can act independently when conducting investigations.

French Ambassador to Montenegro Dominique Gazuy placed emphasis on strengthening Montenegrin judiciary and improvement of overall judicial system performance as one of the seven key priorities for the launch of EU entry talks. In this context she spoke of new instruments introduced by the Code, especially referring to the mechanism of plea agreement, that reduces the number of unsolved court cases and can be used in minor offences in order to cut on long and expensive trials, the Ambassador noted, voicing confidence that the French team will provide the highest level of expertise and know-how, as well as good practices in this regard.