Prosecutorial Investigation Is More Efficient Than the Judicial

PODGORICA – The practice of throwing the blame between the police and prosecution is still present in Montenegro, which puts forward the question of who is really blame for unresolved cases.

Photo: Dina Bajramspahić from Institute Alternative (PR Centar)

Prosecutorial investigation is more efficient than the judicial and the cooperation between the police and the prosecution is good if it’s based on mutual trust, it was pointed out at the Institute Alternative (IA) presentation of study “Six Years of Prosecutorial Investigation in Montenegro”, organized on 3 of October 2016 in Podgorica, Montenegro.

The research is based on a total of 36 interviews with state prosecutors, police officials and their supervisors in five cities in Montenegro, with the aim to refresh the findings on cooperation and experience of the police and prosecution in working with criminal law cases. Institute Alternative researcher Dina Bajramspahić reminded of the research that the IA conducted two years ago.

“The 2014 research showed widespread dissatisfaction with the prosecutorial investigation, compared to the previous system, among both police officers and judges”, underlines Bajramspahić.

The results from 2016 are quite different, both prosecutors and police officers are satisfied with cooperation. However, there are minor problems.

The practice of throwing the blame around between various actors is still present, which puts forward the question of who is really blame for unresolved cases.

“The total number of solved crimes has dropped by 14%: from 67.8% in 2010 to 53.8% in 2015. In other words, half of criminal offenders remain unpunished. Unlike in 2010, when 914 criminal offences were not taken to court, in 2015 this number was as high as 2,636”, said Bajramspahić.

If official governmental papers are taken into consideration, one could get the impression either that criminal activity has been halved in Montenegro in the last ten years, or that the activities of the police in detecting criminal behavior have experienced a decline.

“Opposite to 2005 when 9,579 criminal offences were registered, in 2015 this number fell by half, to 5,247 criminal acts. Most concerning is that the reports do not stipulate which crimes exactly saw a decrease in the last ten years. In parallel, the number of persons indicted by the prosecution has plummeted. In the last seven years there have been 5,000 fewer persons indicted – from 8,677 in 2008 to 3,765 in 2015”, said Bajramspahić.

The positive trend is that 92.5% of indictments raised by basic and higher prosecutions were approved by the courts. This figure is even more impressive when it comes to the Special State Prosecutor, as all of their indictments were affirmed.

“However, the question remains on whether the prosecution in this system is more hesitant to press criminal charges than the practice that existed in the judicial investigation system”, marked Bajramspahić.

Another challenge is that prosecutors are not being fully aware of the possibilities and limitations of police work, which they now manage, nor knowing in depth criminalistics techniques.

”Even though some prosecutors were willing to actively participate in investigations and inquests, most of them decided to wait in their offices until the police conduct a full investigation and determine those pieces of evidence that the prosecutors would use in the courtroom”, marked Bajramspahić.

One of the features of prosecutorial investigations, which the prosecutors are most proud of, is the length of the investigation.

“Even complex criminal cases, such as those that involve corruption and organized crime – which are in the jurisdiction of the Special State Prosecutor, lasted on average two months and 22 days. However, when it comes to the application of special investigative measures, results have proved to be extremely weak. Out of 846 instances of special measures being applied, only 190 persons were indicted and as little as 19 found guilty, which makes up 2.24% of the total number of persons being eavesdropped on”, underlines Bajramspahić.

Another problem detected in the prosecution and the police are placing a heavy burden on inspectors, while on the other hand tolerating the fact that other employees are not engaged as much.

“This problem can be solved through improving the procedures of handing out cases, as well as through introducing standards for grading performed activities”, said Bajramspahić.

The research was done within the project “Towards efficient prosecutorial investigations in the Western Balkans” which the IA is conducting in cooperation with the Association of Prosecutors of Serbia, and with the support of the Netherlands Embassy.