The very small number of people who applied to the competition of the Supreme Court of Montenegro for the admission of interns in the courts requires additional measures.

The public competition for the admission of interns in the courts, published on 26 January 2024, was looking for 41 people. However, only nine applied. Numerous courts, including the Commercial Court of Montenegro and the Administrative Court of Montenegro, as well as Basic Courts in Danilovgrad, Kotor, Herceg Novi, Berane, Plav, the High Misdemeanour Court and the Misdemeanour Court in Bijelo Polje were thus left without interns.

This issue further contributes to the problem of lack of staff in the judiciary. Recently, the President of the Judicial Council said that the judicial system is lacking no less than 58 judges, which is approximately 17%. Low interest in this profession indicates the need to make the job of a judge more attractive, and that working conditions must be improved.

As HRA has learned, candidates were discouraged also by the fact that, if a person wanted to apply for the competition and be considered for the position, s/he had to submit an extract from his/her personal unemployment card. In other words, if they want their applications to be taken into consideration, employed candidates must first resign from their current jobs, without any certainty as to whether they will be selected for the position of intern. HRA believes that it would be sufficient to prescribe that priority will be given to unemployed candidates in the selection process, which would make it possible to receive a greater number of applications.

To improve the situation and plan the filling of judicial positions in a timely manner, it is necessary to examine in greater detail the reasons for the lack of interest of young lawyers in internship work in courts, improve the working conditions, and – in cooperation with law faculties – make positions in the court system more attractive to young lawyers.