Civic Alliance Demands from Montenegro more Adequate Approach to Human Right Protection at ECHR

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The Civic Alliance of Montenegro expressed yesterday, June 20, 2012, its concerns over the fact that the state of Montenegro has not yet established the Office for Expert and Administrative Activities for Representation at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, and the fact that the national legislation on the subject is not synchronized.

„The inadequate approach by the state and insufficient support list Montenegro among the countries with the lowest number of cases filed at the ECHR per capita. The invisibility of the Commissioner and the large number of petitions and court decisions also contribute to such a situation”, states CA in a statement for the press, signed the CA Coordinator Milan Radović.

The Alliance adds that ECHR stated clearly, in the Koprivica vs. Montenegro case, that constitutional appeal doesn’t represent an efficient legal remedy and that the ECHR could review that position in the future, only if the Government proves that constitutional appeal was transformed into an efficient remedy.

Noting that the Constitutional Court accepts just a fraction of all constitutional appeals filed in Montenegro, CA comments that the situation further to the unsatisfactory levels of respect and protection for human rights, low levels of rule of law and wasteful spending of public funds.

The Alliance also adds that the inexistence of a proper Office means that the Commissioner is not visible enough in the public and is not accessible to the citizens. They believe that it is necessary for the Office of the Commissioner to create a web-site, like its counterparties in the region, which will offer the necessary information on the procedures how to address the citizens and with translations of important ECHR judgments.

“Before they file a petition to the ECHR, the citizens should be able to test the validity of their case, knowing that many lawyers, with eyes on their fees, lead the citizens to take their cases to Strasbourg, even when it is obvious that they will not stand”, says the Alliance and called on the Government to implement all the necessary activities to ensure for an adequate approach to protection of human rights at the Court in Strasbourg and to inform properly the citizens about the work of ECHR. (Source: Civic Alliance)