Two workshops for court presidents, heads of prosecution offices and members of secretariats of the Judicial and Prosecutorial Council responsible for financial administration were organised in Budva, in co-operation with the Judicial Training Centre. The workshops were designed in line with the Judicial Reform Strategy 2019 – 2022 and its Action Plan for 2019/2020 with the aim to increase managerial capacities of judicial officials on performance measurement and financial decision-making and execution.

Financial and organisational management is indeed considered a critical foundation on which the judicial effectiveness lies. The way justice is dispensed is always interlinked with how funds are allocated and results delivered. In other words, judicial budgets should clearly communicate economic and statistical information on the work of judiciary, while providing for a clear signal of what judicial financial priorities are.

Montenegro is recognised for having in place credible financial accountability mechanisms and dedicating significant amounts of funds to the judiciary. However, the approach to financial management is traditionally rule-driven and focused on accounting compliance, rather than on results-based accounting. To achieve benchmarks in acquis Chapter 32 on financial control in the public sector, Montenegrin judiciary needs to shift from cost-based to programming budgeting that will take place as of 2022.

During these on-demand workshops, Council of Europe international consultants presented a wide range of practical information on financial management, including on Key Performance Indicators that courts and prosecution can use to improve their financial management operations. An easy-to-understand explanation of key functional requirements for definition of strategic and budget goals was provided, drawing on the Austrian, German, Dutch and Norwegian models and tools that judicial leaders can utilise to monitor the performance and bring better financial decisions. CoE consultants also prepared and demonstrated pilot case-flow budgets for Montenegrin basic courts and prosecution offices, to allow court and prosecution leaders to directly understand how modern financial management processes should look like, starting from an initial budget planning through monitoring of one year budget’s execution to entering a new results-based budgetary process.

The workshops have been organised within the action “Accountability and professionalism of the judicial system in Montenegro”, which is a part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe Programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”, implemented by the Council of Europe.