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A working meeting of representatives of the judiciary and the media was held in Pljevlja

A working meeting of representatives of the judiciary and the media was held in Pljevlja

The Center for Democracy and Human Rights has started holding working meetings within the project “Strengthening the Role of the Media in Improving Criminal Justice in Montenegro”.

Believing that the cooperation of representatives of the justice system at the local level, on the one hand and the media, civil society and active citizens, on the other hand, can lead to synergy of their potentials that would result in quality reporting on criminal justice and adequate information to the public of Pljevlja. meeting, October 24, 2017, at the Hotel Franca, in Pljevlja.

The purpose of the working meetings is to encourage dialogue between these actors, especially on the use of the Law on Free Access to Information in order to improve the quality and credibility of media coverage of criminal justice cases, while creating the image of judicial bodies as open and willing actors to cooperate with media and civil society organizations.

The working meeting was attended by Mr. Milivoje Tomčić, Head and PR of the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Pljevlja and Ms. Dejana Damjanović, PR of the Basic Court in Pljevlja, while representatives of the network – RTV Pljevlja, Pljevlja Newspapers, PV portal and daily DAN .

The meeting took place in a very constructive exchange of views. Representatives of judicial institutions presented the existing practices and instruments of communication with the media, while the media talked about cooperation with these institutions. It was stated that the cooperation between the PR Prosecutor’s Office and the media is at a high level and that Mr. Tomčić is always available to the media, in order to better report to the media on criminal justice. Also, contact was established between the PR of the Basic Court in Pljevlja and media representatives.

It was concluded that cooperation has significantly improved since 2015, with the adoption of legal acts on the Basic Court and the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office, but also that there is room for improvement through initiatives proposed by media representatives. Three initiatives have been proposed, addressed to judicial institutions, and CEDEM will act as a mediator in the next period in order to adopt initiatives, resulting in better media reporting, as well as accurate and timely information to citizens.

At the end of the meeting, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the Basic Court, the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office and the network of representatives of the media and the civil sector.