More than EUR 13 million in fines were imposed by the Misdemeanour Court in Podgorica from the beginning of 2023 to the end of August 2026, while around EUR 6.14 million was collected during the same period, or around 47% of the amount imposed, according to data collected by the Centre for Civic Education (CCE).
The data, obtained through requests for free access to information submitted to the misdemeanour courts in Podgorica, Budva and Bijelo Polje, also point to significant differences in the way records are kept. As a result, it is not possible to obtain a complete and directly comparable overview of the fines imposed and collected, or of the breakdown of misdemeanour cases before these three courts.
The Misdemeanour Court in Podgorica was the only court to provide data on both fines imposed and fines collected. In 2023, EUR 2.86 million was imposed and EUR 1.88 million collected; in 2024, EUR 3.80 million was imposed and EUR 1.77 million collected; in 2025, EUR 3.73 million was imposed and EUR 1.74 million collected, while by the end of August 2026, EUR 2.61 million had been imposed and around EUR 755,000 collected. However, this court does not maintain aggregate records on the breakdown of misdemeanours according to the requested criteria.
The Misdemeanour Court in Budva has detailed data on the breakdown of cases and on fines and procedural costs collected, but does not maintain separate records on the total amount of fines imposed. Traffic misdemeanours overwhelmingly dominate the case structure, accounting for between 69% and 72%, with 11,035 out of 15,991 cases in 2023, 9,380 out of 13,651 in 2024, 9,696 out of 13,733 in 2025, and 8,375 out of 11,700 cases by the end of August 2026.
Also notable is the decline in the number of cases concerning protection from domestic violence in Budva – from 633 in 2023 to 577 in 2024 and 444 in 2025, representing a decrease of almost 30% compared with 2023. In the first eight months of 2026, 310 such cases were recorded. This trend should also be viewed in the context of the binding Instruction of the Supreme State Prosecutor from October 2024, aimed at harmonising the practice of state prosecution offices in domestic violence cases and strengthening the criminal-law approach to such cases.
The Misdemeanour Court in Bijelo Polje also does not have data on the total amount of fines imposed, because, according to the Court’s response, these data still cannot be extracted from the ROF and PRIS systems. From the beginning of 2023 to the end of August 2026, a total of EUR 4,462,552.19 was collected, but this aggregate amount includes fines, procedural costs and court fees, as well as liabilities from previous years collected during this period.
From the beginning of 2023 to the end of June 2026, fines were imposed in a total of 14,063 cases in Bijelo Polje, of which 10,812, or almost 77%, related to road traffic safety, 992 to public peace and order, 357 to protection from domestic violence, 301 to prevention of corruption, 274 to prevention of drug abuse, and 1,327 to other areas. The breakdown for July and August 2026 was not provided, as the Court was unable to extract those data before the completion of its nine-month work report.
While one court has data on fines imposed and collected, but not an aggregate breakdown of misdemeanours, another has a breakdown of cases and data on collection, but not the total amount of fines imposed, while the third does not have data on the total amount of fines imposed and records financial data on an aggregate basis together with procedural costs and court fees. The three courts, therefore, monitor the same segment of work in three different ways, which prevents a complete, reliable and directly comparable overview of the functioning of the misdemeanour system.
CCE considers it unacceptable that, in a system through which tens of thousands of cases and millions of euros pass, there are no uniform records that would make it possible to provide a simple answer to basic questions – how much in fines was imposed, how much was collected, for which misdemeanours and in which period. Such differences make it more difficult to monitor collection efficiency, compare the work of courts, analyse sentencing policy and identify trends that should form the basis for improving the system.
Therefore, CCE submitted an initiative to the Ministry of Justice, calling on it, within its competences and in cooperation with the relevant judicial institutions, to establish a uniform system for recording and reporting these data, so that the records of all misdemeanour courts are complete, reliable and comparable.
Rozana Vuljaj, Project Assistant