Montenegro judges appointed for public relations met for the first time with journalists and chief editors to discuss on standards regarding free access to informaation and dissemination of information from court procedings.

Earlier this year, the Council of Europe supported the promotion of the Communication Strategy for Courts and the Judicial Council of Montenegro. This documents laid out basic principles for communication between the media and the courts.

This two-day event took place in Podgorica on 19 and 20 September, and garnered unprecedented interest from judges, journalists, and chief editors, who used this opportunity to discuss topics related to the standards of the Council of Europe, and in particular the Recommendation Rec(2003)13 of the Committee of Ministers to member stateson the provision of information through the mediain relation to criminal proceedings.

Following a session on Communication Strategy, participants engaged in a lively discussion on how to enhance communication between the judiciary and the media. A presentation on the main challenges was given by the Head of public relations at the Supreme court.

The Council of Europe’s consultants presented the relevant and recent case law on administration of justice and freedom of expression.

The capacity building activity was organised within the action “Protecting freedom of expression and of the media in Montenegro PROFREX-M"  implemented by the Division for Co-operation on Freedom of Expression of the Council of Europe, and part of the joint European Union and the Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.