During last week, Montenegrin Parliament has adopted amendments to the Law on Non-litigation Procedure and the Law on Free Legal Aid.

The amendments to the Law on Non-litigation Procedure, among other improvements, provided better safeguards that guide the respect of human rights of forcibly hospitalized persons in psychiatric institutions. In accordance with the HRA proposal, when deciding on involuntary hospitalization, it is now regulated that persons taking part in these proceedings must have an attorney, or if they are not able to afford the attorney services, they must enjoy a right to free legal aid. Also, as proposed by HRA, a court is obliged to hold the hearing at the psychiatric institution and take a statement from the person considering hospitalizing, if that person is capable to comprehend the importance and legal consequences of his/her legal participation. Furthermore, another adopted proposition given by HRA specified that an independent expert, who is not working in the psychiatric institution, will evaluate the ability of persons involved in these proceedings, and considers whether the reasons behind involuntary hospitalization are justified.

The Law on Free Legal Aid is improved as victims of family violence are now entitled to enjoy the right to free legal regardless of their income situation, and because the conditions for enjoying the right to free legal aid are more lenient (now it is allowed to own a bigger-sized apartment and vehicle in value four times more than the average salary in Montenegro).

Unfortunately, the amendment proposed by HRA, which would have enabled for the right to free legal aid to include legal protection in administrative procedures, has been refused. In this way, people in the poor financial state are left without legal protection in proceedings where their ability to achieve many rights is determined – such as the ones providing for social protection, the right to pension and disability insurance, work-related rights – until the stage of an administrative dispute is reached, when it may be already too late for an effective protection. Also, the victims of torture and harassment (executed by public officials) and victims of discrimination are still not acknowledged as groups that should enjoy the right to free legal aid regardless of their income state.

Opposite from what HRA and other NGOs proposed, it is still not allowed for NGOs, unions, political parties, university legal clinics and other competent authorities or subjects already providing legal aid services, to be able to give government sponsored free legal aid.

HRA Team