N12.T9 – Montenegro Loses Cases at the European Court of Human Rights; Government Issues Recommendations to Prevent New Applications
HRA NEWSLETTER 12 – TOPIC 9
From the beginning of the year until the end of June, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg received applications that led to the opening of 30 cases against Montenegro. Under the Court’s judgments and decisions, the state paid €43,679.41 in damages and legal costs. This is reported in the Report on the Work of the Office of the Representative of Montenegro before the Court in Strasbourg for the first six months of 2025, recently adopted by the Government.
During this period, one judgment was delivered establishing excessive length of proceedings before the Constitutional Court, along with 11 decisions against Montenegro. By June 30, the Representative’s Office had 48 cases in progress, 63% of which concerned violations of the right to a fair trial due to prolonged proceedings before the Constitutional Court of Montenegro (19 cases).
The report, prepared by the office led by Katarina Peković, notes that in 2024 the state paid €6,400,264 under ECtHR judgments and decisions against Montenegro, in 2023 – €18,688, in 2022 – €445,198, and in 2021 – €17,980.
In response, Peković recommended that competent state authorities take preventive measures and address deficiencies in the legal system that could lead to new applications against Montenegro at the ECtHR. The Government accepted this recommendation and issued instructions to relevant ministries.
The Ministry of Justice was instructed to analyze whether amendments to the Law on the Protection of the Right to a Trial Within a Reasonable Time or other regulations are necessary to ensure efficient resolution of bankruptcy proceedings, or whether other measures should be taken. The Ministry was also tasked with examining whether amendments to the Civil Procedure Code are required to ensure effective and full protection of the right to a fair trial, specifically regarding conditions for filing a request for leave to appeal based on the ratione valoris criterion (case value).
The Ministry led by Bojan Božović is also required to prepare a register of unexecuted final court decisions against companies that were formerly socially or state-owned, and are now majority- or minority-state-owned, that were reported in bankruptcy proceedings and recognized in the list of acknowledged and disputed claims, and to determine the total amount of unpaid claims.
The Commercial Court was recommended to take all necessary measures regarding the duration of bankruptcy proceedings.
“Respecting principles and standards for the length of proceedings, in line with the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, so that the relevant cases are concluded within a ‘reasonable time’ and to ensure compliance with the principles of legal certainty and the rule of law, thereby preventing potential future financial obligations of Montenegro arising from excessive duration of these proceedings,” the Government stated.
The Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism, and State Property was also instructed, to prevent future violations of the right to a fair trial due to prolonged proceedings before the Regional Commissions for Restitution and Compensation in Podgorica, Bar, and Bijelo Polje, to require those commissions to conduct a comprehensive review of all ongoing cases and prepare plans for their efficient completion.
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