On the final day of the Summer Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, discussion on strengthening the independence of the Strasbourg Court was lead. Even though various measures have been taken over the years to strengthen the independence of the Court, there is still room for improvement by the opinion of the Assembly. The parliamentarians agreed on additional measures such as the ratification of the Sixth Protocol to the Council of Europe’s General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities, the revision of present arrangements on social security arrangements and retirement pensions for judges, and improvements to the present situation regarding their post-retirement status.

Also, parliamentarians debated the extent to which the judiciary is adapted to minors. PACE has called on states to set the minimum age of criminal responsibility at 14 years at least, with no exceptions even for serious offences, and for the creation of a range of suitable alternatives to formal prosecution for younger offenders. Detention and imprisonment should be used for children only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible period of time. PACE suggested that multi-professional teams – including the police, social workers, psychiatric nurses and youth workers – could be set up to help investigate crimes committed by young offenders and offer them and their families support and rehabilitation. It was concluded that the best way to deal with juvenile delinquency was a challenging task for all member state governments, who need to find the right balance between the protection of society as a whole and treatment of juvenile offenders.

During the final day of the Summer Session, the meeting of the PACE Bureau was held, attended by the Head of the Montenegrin delegation, Mr Predrag Sekulić. At the meeting of the Bureau, members discussed the activities of the Parliamentary Assembly and its working bodies in the future.

Montenegrin delegation was composed of Mr Predrag Sekulić, Mr Damir Šehović, Mr Mladen Bojanić and Ms Snežana Jonica.