Over the five-year period from 2020 to the end of 2024, Montenegrin misdemeanor courts recorded at least 18,636 cases expiring, allowing 238 individuals to evade prison sentences.

The repercussions extend beyond the legal realm, significantly impacting the state’s finances. For instance, the Budva Misdemeanor Court collected €2,040,035 in 2024 from fines, costs of misdemeanor proceedings, and court fees on approximately 19,000 pending cases. One can only speculate about the financial damage incurred by the statute of limitations over these five years.

Statistics reveal that the Podgorica Court for Minor Offences, which includes sections located in Nikšić, Danilovgrad, and the Royal Capital of Cetinje, experienced the highest number of statutes of limitations. Between 2020 and 2024, a total of 15,058 statutes of limitations were recorded in this court.

In 2020, the Podgorica Minor Offences Court noted 842 statutes of limitations under the regular (PP) procedure, while the executive (IPS) procedure recorded 997 cases, along with five cases concerning the enforcement of prison sentences.

By 2021, the number of statutes of limitations began to rise significantly, peaking in 2022 with 1,127 in the regular PP procedure, while the enforcement procedure saw 1,467 statutes of limitations for fine enforcement and 21 for prison sentences.

“The year 2024 saw a marked increase in statutes of limitations during regular proceedings compared to previous years—3,255 cases. This surge is attributed to the court working with fewer judges than mandated by law throughout the year, with one judge being replaced multiple times due to extended sick leaves. The enforcement of fines expired in 1,753 cases, while the enforcement of prison sentences expired in 55 cases,” stated Nada Bjeković, President of the Minor Offences Court in Podgorica, in an interview with TV Vijesti.

At the Bijelo Polje Misdemeanor Court, which oversees departments in Berane, Žabljak, Kolašin, Mojkovac, Plav, Pljevlja, and Rožaje, the statute of limitations expired in 653 cases within the first instance proceedings from 2020 to 2024, alongside a total of 1,810 expired cases in enforcement proceedings.

This court also displays a trend of increasing statutes of limitations. For example, in Bijelo Polje, 38 statutes of limitations were recorded in first-instance proceedings and 217 in enforcement proceedings in 2020. By 2024, these numbers had nearly doubled to 194 in first-instance and 435 in enforcement proceedings.

Alija Beganović, President of the Misdemeanor Court in Bijelo Polje, emphasizes that the number of statute-barred cases is minimal and negligible when compared to other misdemeanor courts.

“The majority, if not all, cases in our court have lapsed due to defendants’ unavailability and the Police Directorate’s non-compliance with orders to bring them in,” explains Beganović.

He highlights that enforcement proceedings are increasingly becoming statute-barred, particularly for legal entities. This occurs because fines cannot be collected via the legal entity’s bank account; soon after a case is filed, the court instructs the Central Bank of Montenegro to block its account. However, “due to insufficient funds, the order cannot be executed, and even when we forward it to the Protector of Property and Legal Interests, our decisions for forced collection are not acted upon.”

“It’s not a matter of this court’s sluggishness but rather a result of other procedural issues,” says Beganović.

At the Budva Misdemeanor Court, which also serves Ulcinj, Bar, Kotor, and Herceg Novi, a total of 1,022 cases saw their statutes of limitations expire from 2020 to 2023, according to President Marko Đukanović.

“Out of these, 507 cases in the first-instance proceedings (PP report) and 515 in the execution of misdemeanor sanctions (IPS report) were affected by the statute of limitations, with only three prison sentences expiring. In relation to the total number of cases handled by the court over these four years (74,170 cases), the expired statute of limitations accounts for 1.38%, and with respect to resolved cases (53,150 cases), it represents 1.92%,” explains Đukanović.

According to Đukanović, the analysis of cases affected by the statute of limitations indicates it often results from circumstances that judges cannot realistically influence.

“This typically involves the unavailability of defendants or witnesses (especially foreign citizens not processed urgently), the Police Directorate’s failure to respond to forced arrival orders, and irregularities in delivering court documents by the Post of Montenegro. Nevertheless, there are some isolated cases where there is reasonable suspicion of judges’ oversight, which I will address in the near future,” adds Đukanović.

During this period, only one case lapsed in the Higher Minor Offences Court of Montenegro, occurring in mid-2023. The case, received by the court on December 7, 2022, saw its statute of limitations expire on March 9, 2023.

The Higher Misdemeanor Court highlights that the judge overseeing the expired case was managing a total of 697 cases, which is 174.25% of the judge’s quota, due to the court operating with three fewer judges than necessary from 2022 until March 2023.

This court ensures that cases expiring due to statutes of limitations are assigned to a duty panel within 15 days of court receipt, a strategy that has kept the number of expired cases to just the one mentioned.

Lawyer Djukanovic: Courts are overloaded

Attorney Željko Đukanović warns that the current environment directly contributes to a significant workload for misdemeanor courts, particularly due to the high traffic frequency and the resulting misdemeanor cases against traffic participants. This is visible to both the public and professionals, as such incidents further burden the courts. Moreover, there has been a notable increase in illegal acts that disturb public order and peace.

“Many overlook these facts, which undeniably escalate the volume of cases in misdemeanor courts. When considering the insufficient number of judges and the inadequate spatial and technical conditions, it’s clear that these objective issues are the root causes of not only the increased case load but also the statutes of limitations in misdemeanor prosecutions,” underscores attorney Đukanović.

He asserts that the high number of expired cases cannot be solely blamed on the lack of efficiency and action from misdemeanor judges.

“To effectively reduce the backlog of cases, it’s essential to provide judges with the necessary working conditions that allow for both objective and subjective factors to enable efficient adjudication, particularly in handling as many cases as possible while ensuring the integrity of their decisions,” offers Đukanović.

The attorney highlights that the rising number of traffic safety cases, alongside the growing vehicle population, demands exceptional diligence from misdemeanor judges. He believes engaging a traffic expert is essential to delivering a lawful judgment, which may result in prolonged procedures, especially with instances of so-called additional or “super-expertise” that continue to extend case durations in the Misdemeanor Court.

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