The New Communication Strategy for Judicial Council and Courts presented to legal community

The Communication strategy of the Judicial Council and Courts for 2024 - 2026 and the 2024 Action Plan were presented to court presidents, press judges and the Judicial Council's members. The Strategy defines ways of communicating with public and media and strengthening of judicial transparency and will be instrumental in supporting more professional and transparent communication between the courts and public, contributing to greater accountability of the judicial system in Montenegro and better judicial outcomes for citizens.

The Strategy and Action Plan were developed under the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.

President of the Judicial Council of Montenegro, Radoje Korać reiterated that in modern and democratic societies trust in judiciary is crucial for the legitimacy of the overall political system, because this is where public trust in the law is being tested in the first place. „Transparency and accountability are key for ensuring that trust. The Judicial Council plays a particular role in increasing judicial transparency, and therefore members of the Council, but also other judicial actors need to take an active part in informing and educating the public, to ultimately restore and rebuild citizens' trust in judicial institutions “, Korać concluded.

Acting President of the Supreme Court of Montenegro, Vesna Vučković said: "The public must be provided with accurate, verified and up-to-date information about the functioning of the judiciary. We need to take care of protecting citizens' rights and freedoms, while reaching a delicate balance between the right of the public to know and the interest of individuals."

Head of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Podgorica, Lejla Dervišagić, said that the Communication Strategy is a unique document for the Judicial Council and courts, which is meant to improve communication between the courts, the Judicial Council and the public. “The Strategy will be also beneficial for journalists, thanks to improved and proactive approach of judicial institutions to media relations”, Dervišagić said.

The Strategy is based on a detailed analysis and is informed by the results in the implementation of the Judicial Communication Protocol (KOPS) and the previous Judicial Council's Communication Strategy.

"We made a very ambitious Action Plan for this year, which contains activities that courts have practiced in previous years, such as training of judges on communicating with the media, meetings with journalists and representatives of the non-governmental sector, but also some new projects that are of strategic interest to judiciary. Some of them are the creation of guidelines for communication in crisis situations, workshops with journalists, as well as the creation of a new website for the courts and the Judicial Council", said the Supreme Court judge and Chief Spokesperson Vesna Jočić.

The Judicial Council's member, judge Rade Ćetković emphasised that the purpose of the Strategy is to increase the public's trust in the work of the courts and the Judicial Council, by strengthening their transparency. „This goal can be achieved through a proactive attitude towards public, as well as by developing open relations with the media; continuously educating the public about the courts' work, as well as by strengthening internal capacities for communication in the judiciary", Ćetković concluded.

The Communication strategy and Action Plan were presented by the local consultant of the Council of Europe, Miodrag Strugar.