Montenegro

In Montenegro, the Council for the Rights of the Child is limited in its authority and needs to be provided with a clear mandate. The State party did not provide much data on all important topics, so the report is relatively vague and recalls previous recommendations.
It is to note positively that laws are very progressive and contain children’s rights – meanwhile it is problematic that those laws are not implemented properly.

The Committee notes the measures taken to combat the practice of sex-selective abortion and the information provided by the State party during its dialogue with the Committee regarding the success of the “Unwanted” and “Wanted” campaigns, which significantly improved the situation in this regard.
Nevertheless, the Committee recommends to address the root causes of the practice of sex-selective abortion and its long-term implications for society, expand family planning services and strengthen its awareness-raising activities on the detrimental impact of sex selection on the equal value of girls and boys, with a view to completely eliminating this practice.
Further, Montenegro has a high number of teenage pregnancies due to limited access of teenage girls to safe reproductive and sexual health services. The Committee recommends that the State party, among other measures, remove barriers for health services and strengthen measures to address alcohol and drug use by children and adolescents.

The Committee is concerned about the lack of effective equal protection of children with disabilities, who continue to face intersecting forms of discrimination. Furthermore, the Committee is concerned about the high number of children with disabilities who are in special schools or classes, and the fact that day-care centres for children with disabilities accept persons from the ages of 3 to 26 years, leading to cases where 3-year-old children share a space with 26-year-old adults. Therefore, the Committee urges to effectively implement legislation providing protection for children with disabilities and to give priority to inclusive education over the placement of children in specialized institutions and classes.

Montenegro has a universal health-care program for children, but also declining rates of immunization against childhood diseases due to anti-vaccination campaigns and limited access to early childhood development services.

The Committee recommends to ensure that community-based mental health services are readily available, strengthen preventive work in schools, at home and care centres, and increase the number of child psychiatrists and psychologists.

The Committee is concerned that the law grants the authority to judges to place a child in detention together with adults, that separate facilities for children do not exist, and that existing provisions for alternatives to detention are not being fully implemented. Therefore, the Committee recommends to ensure that the juvenile justice system is in compliance with the principles of the Convention and to provide qualified, independent and free legal aid to children in conflict with the law at an early stage of the procedure and throughout legal proceedings. Furthermore, the Committee recommends to establish separate facilities for children deprived of their liberty, and ensure that those facilities are run by specialized personnel.

The Committee recommends that the State party respect the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion by taking effective measures, including legislative measures, to prevent and eliminate all forms of intolerance on the grounds of religion or belief.
The Committee notes as positive the efforts of the State party to prevent child marriage, but is concerned about the prevalence of child marriage, especially of girls, among the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities. To improve the situation, the Committee recommends to provide child victims with shelter and appropriate rehabilitation and strengthen Montenegro’s awareness-raising campaigns.