B4.T6 – Trust in state prosecutor’s offices is growing
HRA NEWSLETTER 4 – TOPIC 6
Judging by the survey that was initiated by the OSCE Mission in Montenegro and conducted by the De Facto agency in October and November of 2024, citizens’ trust in state prosecutors’ offices has grown in the course of last year.
64.1% of citizens trust the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office, which is 14.5% more than in 2023. The Special State Prosecutor’s Office also recorded an increase in trust – 9.7% compared to 2023, and is now trusted by 64.8% of the respondents.
Citizens are also showing more trust in those who occupy the most responsible positions in the State Prosecutor’s Office. The work of the Supreme State Prosecutor Milorad Marković is supported by 51.5%, and the work of the Chief Special Prosecutor Vladimir Novović by 57.6% of the respondents.
More than half of the citizens (57.4%) have confidence in the High State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica, which is 10.8% more than in the previous year. An increase in trust of 5.1% compared to the last year’s survey was recorded also regarding the High State Prosecutor’s Office in Bijelo Polje, which is trusted by 46.5% of the respondents. 60% of citizens trust basic state prosecutor’s offices, showing an increase of 14.4% compared to 2023.
Just over half of the respondents (53%) believe that prosecutors’ offices are successfully fighting corruption, while 58.3% of them believe that they work in the public interest and in accordance with laws and professional standards. The survey also showed that almost two-thirds of citizens (61.4%) view the State Prosecutor’s Office as an independent and impartial institution that strengthens the foundations of the rule of law.
Let us recall that the last survey conducted by the NGO Human Rights Action and the agency DeFacto Consultancy showed, among other things, that almost a third of state prosecutors (31.7%) believed that there is corruption in the Montenegrin judiciary, while a quarter (25.8%) witnessed corruption in the judiciary in the last three years. We presented the results of this survey in our Bulletin no. 2.
The above contrast in results shows that, although there are concerns about corruption within the judiciary, the public still recognises efforts to increase its independence and the level of professionalism.
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