Judiciary and Fundamental Rights Semi-Annual Report – July– December 2018
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GOVERNMENT OF MONTENEGRO FOR CHAPTER 23 - JUDICIARY AND FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT – JULY– DECEMBER 2018 JANUARY 2019 1 Contents 23: Judiciary and Fundamental Rights.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4 1 JUDICIARY............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 INDEPENDENCE OF JUDICIARY ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 STENGTHENING OF IMPARTIALITY IN JUDICIARY.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 21 1.3 ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE JUDICIARY ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 30 1.4 PROFESSIONALISM, COMPETENCE AND EFFICIENCY OF JUDICIARY ....................................................................................................................................................... 32 1.5 DOMESTIC HANDLING OF WAR CRIMES ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 64 2 FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 77 2.1 PREVENTIVE ACTIONS AGAINST CORRUPTION ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 77 2.2 REPRESSIVE ACTIONS AGAINST CORRUPTION .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 247 3 FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 295 4 COOPERATION WITH THE NGO ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 468 OPERATIONAL DOCUMENT ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 484 I PUBLIC PROCUREMENT ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 484 II PRIVATISATION (PUBLICITY AND TRANSPARENCY) ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 496 III URBAN PLANNING .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 504 IV EDUCATION .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 514 V HEALTH CARE SECTOR ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 526 VI LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 567 VII POLICE ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 585 2 INTRODUCTION The semi-annual report on the implementation of the Action Plan for Chapter 23 for the period July-December 2018 is the eighth one since the adaptation of the Action Plan of 19 February 2015. In the reporting period, a total of 200 measures from the Action Plan became due for implementation, out of which 13 measures (7%) were implemented, 158 measures (79%) are continuously implemented, 16 measures (8%) were partially implemented and a total of 13 measures (6%) were not implemented. A tabular and graphical representation of the implementation of measures are included hereinafter. A semi-annual report on the implementation of the Operational Document for Corruption Prevention in Special Risk Areas, annex to the Action Plan, for the period July-December 2018 is the fifth report. In the reporting period, a total of 54 measures became due for implementation, out of which 10 (19%) were implemented, 33 (61%) were continuously implemented, 3 (5%) were partially implemented and 8 measures (15%) were not implemented. Chapter Total Due I CI PI NI Graphic view Chapter: 23 564 200 13 158 16 13 7% 79% 8% 6% 01- JUDICIARY 155 48 3 34 9 2 6% 71% 19% 4% 02- FIGHT AGAINST 146 67 3 57 5 2 5% 85% 7% 3% CORRUPTION 03- FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS 243 75 4 62 2 7 6% 82% 3% 9% 04- COOPERATION WITH 20 10 3 5 0 2 30% 50% 20% NGO Operational document 62 54 10 33 3 8 19% 61% 5% 15% 01-Public procurement 6 6 1 4 0 1 16% 67% 17% 02-Privatisation 8 7 0 5 0 2 72% 28% 22% 56% 11% 11% 03-Urban planning 11 9 2 5 1 1 04-Education 9 7 0 6 0 1 86% 14% 05-Health care sector 12 11 5 2 2 2 46% 18% 18% 18% 06-Local self-government 11 9 0 8 0 1 89% 11% 40% 60% 07-Police 5 5 2 3 0 0 3 23: Judiciary and Fundamental Rights 1 JUDICIARY 1.1 INDEPENDENCE OF JUDICIARY 1.1.1 Recommendation: Montenegro needs to amend its Constitution in line with the recommendations of the Venice Commission and the European standards, in order to ensure the independence and accountability of the judiciary. The amendments, inter alia, should include the following issues: - At least 50% of the Judicial Council and the Prosecutorial Council members should come from the judiciary. These members should be elected by their peers who represent different levels of the judiciary, without any interference by the Parliament (other than purely declarative). - Prosecutors should not be elected by the Parliament. - The reasons for the dismissal of judges and prosecutors should be incorporated into the Constitution. No. Measure /Activity Responsible Deadline Status INDICATOR OF RESULT INDICATOR OF IMPACT authority 1.1.1.1 Amend the Constitution in the part governing the The I Amendments to the Constitution adopted Indicator 1: The judiciary is effectively judiciary in line with the opinion of the Venice Parliament governed by Constitutional principles in line Commission, particularly as regards: - composition of with European standards and EU acquis. the Judicial Council, - election of the President of the Overall, the quality and efficiency of the July 2013 Constitutional Law for the enforcement of the Supreme Court, - election of public prosecutors and judiciary is improving (Tool : third party Amendments to the Constitution adopted of the Supreme Public Prosecutor, - composition of reports) the Prosecutorial Council - reasons for dismissal of judges and public prosecutors; - composition and (12) 30 June 2018 (PI) method of election of judges of the Constitutional In its report for Montenegro for 2018, the Court. European Commission concluded that (12) 30 June 2018 [I] "Montenegro is moderately prepared for the application of the acquis and European (13) 31 December 2018 [I] standards in this area and that, overall, it made some progress". Regarding the functioning of the judiciary, the EC noted "the judicial system of Montenegro is moderately prepared”. In the reporting period, Montenegro has made some progress in meeting the recommendations for 4 strengthening the independence, professionalism and accountability of the judiciary." Regarding the efficiency of the judiciary, it has been noted that Montenegro generally has no significant