Rule of Law Council: Strengthening cooperation to improve conditions in the judiciary

The Rule of Law Council concluded at its session yesterday that it is essential to establish clear frameworks for cooperation among relevant institutions, in order to implement a wider range of joint activities aimed at strengthening the prevention of and fight against corruption and organized crime. In this context, concrete measures were defined to address spatial capacity challenges and to improve working conditions within judicial institutions, thus creating the preconditions for more efficient functioning of the judicial and prosecutorial systems.

At the third session of the Council in its current composition, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister for Political System, Judiciary and Anti-Corruption Momo Koprivica, special attention was also given to the preparation of the first semi-annual report on the implementation of action plans for Chapters 23 and 24. These chapters cover key measures for enhancing the rule of law and include those activities due for reporting during the first half of this year. It was assessed that the level of implementation is satisfactory, bearing in mind that the implementation of the action plan is still in an early phase. Assessments from the recently published European Commission’s 2025 Rule of Law Report for Montenegro were also analyzed during the session.

The session also highlighted the importance of urgently completing the composition of the Constitutional Court by appointing impartial and highly competent individuals, considering that the Court’s full functionality is a cornerstone for safeguarding the constitutional order, legal certainty, and the effective protection of human rights and freedoms.

The Deputy Chair of the Council is the Minister of European Affairs, and the members include: the President of the Supreme Court, the President of the Constitutional Court, the President of the Judicial Council, the Supreme State Prosecutor, the Chief Special Prosecutor, the Director of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption, as well as the Minister of Justice, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Human and Minority Rights, the Director of the Police Directorate, the Chief Negotiator of Montenegro with the EU, the Cluster I negotiator, and the heads of the negotiating groups for Chapters 23 and 24.