Justice Minister Zoran Pažin took part in the EU-Western Balkans Ministerial Forum in the field of justice and home affairs, which was held in Sarajevo on 7-8 December, under the Luxembourg presidency of the EU Council, with the support of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in cooperation with the European Commission.
In his address, Minister Pažin presented Montenegro’s efforts towards enhancing independence of the judiciary, emphasising the progress in the field of legislative and institutional framework, noting that in addition to further harmonisation with the EU acquis and the building of integrity and efficiency of the institutions, future activities will be also aimed at using modern information technologies and providing equal access to justice.
“Montenegro remains committed to further strengthening the independence of the judiciary and reaching a higher level of efficiency, which will result in measurable results in the rule of law. It is necessary to make rights and obligations more certain, which is only possible if these rights and obligations are legitimate in their origin and legal in their application,“ he underlined.
The Sarajevo Forum also discussed the importance of international judicial cooperation, which, as pointed out by the Justice Minister, is one of the key levers for full integration of the Balkans into the European Union. Starting from the assessment that the legal conformity is a guarantor of high-quality international legal cooperation, he underlined Montenegro’s unambiguous commitment, confirmed by its enforcement of numerous international agreements and participation in regional and international initiatives, will be empowered by strengthening legislative and institutional capacity for such cooperation. In that context, Minister Pažin also referred to international cooperation in the area of migration, stressing the significance of further harmonisation of the legislation with that of the EU in order to create conditions for establishing standards worthy of humans and the area of equal opportunities.
The EU – Western Balkans Forum has been traditionally held in the second half of the year and it pays special attention to regional cooperation between the countries of the Western Balkans in the field of justice and home affairs, in the context of EU accession.