Montenegro stands at a crossroads between declarative commitment and the real need for reforms that would ensure consistent and humane application of the Law on Juvenile Justice in Criminal Proceedings. Therefore, the future development of juvenile justice must be directed towards building functional and specialized institutions, continuous training of professional staff, expanding the use of alternative measures and restorative justice programs, and strengthening inter-institutional cooperation with the inclusion of local services and the NGO sector. These are among the conclusions and recommendations of the analysis “Youth Before the Law – Challenges and Solutions of Juvenile Justice in Montenegro,” published by the Centre for Civic Education (CCE) within the project “HEART: Supporting the Empowerment and Resilience of Youth Today.”
The author of the analysis, lawyer Lara Dedić, points to worrying trends and challenges in this area, particularly the growing number of reported juvenile offenders. According to Monstat data, in 2024 there were as many as 260 reported juvenile offenders, a significant increase compared to 196 in 2023 and 209 in 2022. At the same time, far fewer cases ended in convictions – 113 in 2022, 123 in 2023, and only 97 in 2024. The structure of criminal offenses shows that crimes against property were the most common – accounting for more than one-third of all cases – while about one-fifth were crimes against life and bodily integrity.
Public opinion research conducted as part of the publication also revealed alarming perceptions of peer violence: 65.7% of the general population believes that it is frequent or occasionally present, while nearly 60% of high school students confirmed experiencing violence in schools or their surroundings. The data further highlight the normalization of violence and young people’s lack of trust in institutions.
CCE assesses that these figures expose serious weaknesses in the system – from the lack of specialized facilities and trained staff, to the overburdening of social work centers, weak implementation of alternative measures, and insufficient intersectoral cooperation. Instead of focusing on rehabilitation and resocialization, imprisonment is still often applied, which is inconsistent with both domestic legislation and European standards. The analysis also pointed to the need for standardized procedures and clearer protocols in dealing with juveniles, in order to avoid ad hoc solutions in cases that require a rapid response.
CCE calls on the competent institutions to strengthen preventive programs, open specialized facilities for juveniles, improve staffing and infrastructure capacities, and ensure consistent application of legal provisions that prioritize the protection of children’s rights and resocialization over repression. Such measures would build a system that gives young people a genuine second chance and the support they need to abandon deviant patterns of behavior and grow into responsible members of the community. Moreover, this would ensure that legal provisions have their full meaning, while society as a whole becomes safer and fairer toward young people in conflict with the law.
The project HEART: Supporting the Empowerment and Resilience of Youth Today is implemented by CCE in partnership with the Regional Academy for Democratic Development (ADD), with the support of the EU Delegation to Montenegro and co-financing from the Ministry of Public Administration. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of CCE and the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of the EU Delegation to Montenegro or the Ministry of Public Administration.