Director at EU Commission Cas Granje commends Montenegro’s reforms in judiciary

Podgorica, Montenegro (11 December 2012) – Montenegro will set the pace of its own EU integration process, and the first steps in opening each of the negotiating chapters will be the drafting of action plans, already in the final phase for Chapter 23, the meeting between Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Duško Marković and Director for Montenegro, Croatia, Iceland, and Turkey at the DG Enlargement Alejandra Cas Granje concluded yesterday.

Ms Cas Granje commended Montenegro’s reform activities in the area of judiciary and voiced an expectation that the constitutional amendments, as the final activity in this area, will have their spot on the parliamentary agenda early next year.

Deputy Prime Minister Marković informed his guest of the activities currently being undertaken in the process of drafting an analysis on the need to enhance the network of courts and further discussed amendments to the laws in the area of criminal justice and the drafting process of action plans for negotiating chapters 23 and 24.

Discussing the monitoring of Montenegro’s results in this area, the two officials agreed that court statistics should improve and they made a general agreement on establishing cooperation at the expert level in this area.

The meeting served as an opportunity to reiterate the importance of an open two-way communication between Montenegro and the European Commission and to commend such an approach that has taken place in the previous period.