Activity Details (ID# 7420)

Activity Synopsis

The main objective of the seminar was to present to the judges, prosecutors, lawyers, journalists and police officers the general principles concerning the media coverage of judicial proceedings. This particularly refers to the relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights and current media legislation framework and its practice in Montenegro concerning the balance of freedom of expression and information in relation to other fundamental rights, such as right to a fair trial and to the presumption of innocence as well as the right to privacy.
In addition to this, this seminar aimed to compare Council of Europe standards with the Montenegrin legislation in terms of reconciliation of these equally important human rights.

 

The seminar was extremely well organised and well attended, including the diversity of the target groups and their high level of representation, which lead to constructive and inspiring discussions.

A number of important and useful documents were made available, including the European Convention on Human Rights, a set of Montenegrin media laws (Media law, Broadcasting Law, Public Broadcasting Law), Recommendation Rec (2003)13 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the provision of information through the media in relation to criminal proceedings, as well as the Explanatory Memorandum and Declaration of the same name, and examples of judgements of the European Court on Human Rights. In addition, participants were given detailed instructions how to submit an application to the ECHR and “Guidelines for the media developed by Holland Courts”.

Most of the discussion focused on exchanging experiences concerning freedom of expression and information in the context of criminal proceedings, its scope and limits within the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and Montenegrin legislation and practice. In this context, special attention was given to the margin of appreciation and to the principle that interference has to correspond to a pressing social need. It was underlined that each of the groups represented by the participants has a special and important role in the implementation of the above. During the panel, the participants discussed very openly and constructively the problems they are facing in practice and together with experts tried to find solutions that would include respect for all fundamental rights equally as the prerequisite of a democratic society.

The event received extensive media coverage through the Montenegrin newspapers (daily “Vijesti”, “Pobjeda”, “Publika” and “Dan”), and also electronic media (Radio Television Montenegro, TV IN). Furthermore, several of these media houses made longer articles on different subjects that were discussed during the seminar, as well as interviews with the CoE experts.

The activity was followed by evaluation questionnaires completed by the participants and a final debriefing in which both the participants and the speakers expressed their greatest satisfaction with the professionalism of the organisation and conduct of the seminar. According to completed questionnaires, the seminar came at the right time and the participants found it extremely useful. Also, the inputs of the local experts was highly appreciated and they received excellent marks.

The programme was implemented in line with the plans. It is important to stress that it inspired high quality discussions and exchange of opinions / experience between the experts and participants.

The target group was reached to a great extent and their positive feedback clearly confirms this.

 

Bearing in mind the current situation in Montenegro, the seminar was timely. The long and comprehensive discussions proved this, and these lead to the valuable exchange of ideas and experiences. The general conclusion is that Montenegrin media legislation is in line with the European standards, but much remains to be done for it to be satisfactorily and properly implemented. Therefore, participants expressed their utmost gratitude for being given the opportunity to learn about other practices and in particular about the case law of the ECHR. They highly recommended continuing with this training. 

Judges, prosecutors, lawyers, journalists and police officers

 

Mr Erik KOSTER, Media judge, Regional Court of Zwolle, Netherlands
Ms Montserrat ENRICH MAS, Head of the Research Division, European Court of Human Rights
Mr Zoran PAŽIN, judge, Basic Court in Podgorica
Mr Vladimir ČEJOVIĆ, Lawyer, Podgorica

 

Ms Lejla DERVIŠAGIĆ, Media Division, Directorate General of Human Rights
Ms Daliborka ULJAREVIĆ, CoE Office in Montenegro