The representative of the NGO Mladiinfo Montenegro attended the national conference “Results and effects of the application of alternative sanctions in Montenegro”, organized by the Center for Monitoring and Research – CEMI, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, March 10, 2021. in the PR center, Podgorica.
Ivan Vukčević, Program Director of CEMI, gave an introductory speech, presenting research on the results and effects of the application of alternative sanctions in Montenegro.
“I am especially pleased that the Ministry of Justice has nominated this activity for cooperation with non-governmental organizations for the purpose of annual cooperation projects. As well as the results of the analysis show that our joint results have really been noticed, having in mind the statistics that record an increase in the imposition of alternative sanctions, “said Natasa Radonjic, an authorized person in the Directorate for Execution of Criminal Sanctions at the Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights. Radonjic also pointed out that in the next period, the focus should be on two types of sanctions, and those are conditional sentence with protective supervision and conditional release.
Milorad Markovic, a legal expert, said that through the study itself, and from his previous research, he must conclude that there is obvious progress in the execution of criminal sanctions. “I think that now comes a period of examination, a period of assessing the possibilities of the current system,” said Markovic.
Srdja Popovic, secretary at the Health Center in Podgorica, said that the first round had to be endured, that the convicts offered resistance to labor penalties in the public interest, and that people were afraid. “I am a witness that everything is getting better, the employees have already started to get used to the users, now they are asking when they will get the user,” said our speaker Srđa Popović. He also pointed out that the Employment Bureau should be more involved, as well as write them a letter of recommendation after successfully serving a sentence of work in the public interest.
Lawyer Matija Vučićević said that he did not notice in practice that judges avoid imposing alternative sanctions. He said that, when it comes to criminal acts of domestic violence, care should be taken to impose alternative sanctions.
They also followed the national conference through the Zoom platform.