This morning, Civic Alliance sent the Ministry of Justice an Initiative to amend the Law on Free Legal Aid, which requires civilian victims of war to exercise their right to free legal protection.
This Initiative proposed to add a new point to Article 13 paragraph 1 of the Law on Free Legal Aid, after point 5: “6) civilian victims of war“, which would significantly correct decades of injustice and enable equal access to justice for those who have been left to fend for themselves for years, without adequate institutional support.
We believe that this amendment is necessary because, for more than three decades, civilian victims of war in Montenegro have not had adequate legal treatment or support from institutions.
Only recently, with the adoption of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Veterans and Disability Protection, their status was finally legally regulated, which made an important step towards legal and institutional recognition of their rights. This Law recognizes all citizens of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia who forcibly disappeared or were killed during armed conflicts, after August 17, 1990, as civilian victims of war. Given that they have Montenegrin citizenship, members of the victims’ families will finally exercise their right to social protection in Montenegro.
However, although these legal changes are an important step in recognizing the status of civilian victims of war, their access to justice is still limited by numerous administrative and financial obstacles. Without access to free legal aid, many victims remain without protection and mechanisms to exercise their rights.
Given that the Minister of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography, Damir Gutić announced the compensation of civilian victims of the war by the Government’s Decision, it is clear that the state recognizes the need to correct decades of injustice. However, without free legal aid, many victims will not be able to achieve what is due to them by law.
That is why it is now necessary to amend the Law on Free Legal Aid to ensure the right of civilian victims of war to free legal protection, so that the state provides them with concrete mechanisms for exercising their legal rights and reparations.
This Initiative is important not only for moral and legal reasons, but also in the context of the European integration of Montenegro. Resolving the status of civilian victims of war is part of the final criteria for joining the European Union, and Montenegro is expected to close this issue in the next two years in order to finalize the accession negotiations. The European Commission continuously points to the need to achieve justice for victims of war crimes and an efficient institutional response, which makes this initiative even more urgent.
Therefore, we invite the Ministry of Justice and the Government of Montenegro to urgently consider this Initiative and take the necessary steps to ensure equal access to justice for civilian victims of war and provide free legal aid as a key mechanism for the protection of their rights.
The entire Initiative can be found at the following link
