04/06/2020
The Bar Chamber and the Faculty of Law of the UM held a meeting on the ENEMLOS financial issues
At the request of the Bar Chamber of Montenegro, with the assistance of the Erasmus + Office, a meeting was held with the representatives of the Faculty of Law as the coordinator of the ENEMLOS Project in the premises of the same faculty on Wednesday, June 3, 2020. The delegation of the Bar Chamber, led by the Project director dr. Nina Radulović, was kindly hosted by the Dean of the Faculty of Law, prof. dr. Aneta Spaić, and the General coordinator of the Project, prof. dr. Biljana Đuričin, in the presence of representatives of the Erasmus + National Office in the capacity of organizers, led by the Coordinator Mrs. Vanja Drljević. The meeting was also attended by other representatives of the participating institutions.
Bearing in mind that it is involved in the implementation of a project funded by the EU Erasmus + program for the first time, the Bar Chamber requested an explicit support and assistance from the Faculty of Law as the coordinator and an experienced partner in the Project. Primarily, it has been requested to be acquainted with the standard mechanisms for spending the allocated funds for the implementation of the Project, as well as the mechanisms for financial reporting. The Faculty of Law has expressed readiness to submit the relevant forms, which will be made available to all partner institutions as soon as possible and at the latest together with the Partnership Agreement signed by the same institutions, which is expected by the end of June. The rigid mechanisms of spending the concerned allocated funds are explained in more detail, which enable very limited alterations between individual items of the financial plan and prevent excessive spending. If necessary, additional funding is possible only from the partner institution from its own resources.
The Bar Chamber confirmed its readiness to meet the successful implementation of the ENEMLOS Project with the most efficient organization, at the same time emphasizing that it will be a great challenge in organizational terms, bearing in mind that the BCM shall be the leading national partner in the implementation of the "live clinics". Possibly insufficient financial resources might have granted the Project. The challenge is greater as much as the expected workload cannot be reliably known at the present time, since it will depend on the interest of vulnerable groups in the services of legal clinics, and since the Erasmus + funding mechanism (payment per working day) differs from the payment mechanism for legal services envisaged by national regulations (payment per a legal action).
Moreover, issues related to the very implementation of the Project were raised, given that the scope of legal clinics can range from providing legal advice to representing individual client belonging to vulnerable groups before courts and other competent authorities, for which it is necessary to find an appropriate organizational model.
Ultimately, at the meeting was concluded that after the planned study visits within the Project, the models of its realization will be more defined, while at the national level will be applied the model that best suits the local factual and legal conditions. The Bar Chamber confirmed its determination to actively participate in the selection of an appropriate implementation model, i.e. to propose an original solution that is the best adapted to the BCM’s capacities and national circumstances.
