The AIRE Centre, in cooperation with the Constitutional Court of Montenegro, and with support from the British Embassy in Podgorica, held a two-day professional training for the Court’s advisers focused on methodology in constitutional adjudication and the right to a reasoned decision. The training addressed a central question of contemporary constitutional justice: how courts structure their analysis and explain their decisions in line with European human-rights standards.
Opening the training, Snežana Armenko, President of the Constitutional Court of Montenegro, underlined the importance of regional judicial dialogue and shared legal experience.
“We are pleased to welcome an expert from the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a jurisdiction with which we share closely related legal traditions and comparable social and constitutional contexts. There is much to be gained from exchanging practical experience and approaches to constitutional adjudication,” said Armenko.
The training was delivered by Zvonko Mijan, Former Registrar of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and AIRE Centre consultant, who drew on regional constitutional practice and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights.
The sessions focused on practical challenges in constitutional decision-making, including the identification of the constitutional issue, the separation of admissibility from merits, the selection of the appropriate standard of review, and the structuring of reasoning so that the link between facts, applicable law, and the outcome is clear and reviewable. A key part of the programme was devoted to the right to a reasoned decision as an integral component of the right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
“European Court of Human Rights case-law sets clear expectations for domestic courts, particularly regarding the obligation to provide relevant and sufficient reasons and to address decisive arguments. Constitutional adjudication requires a structured methodology that makes the application of those standards visible and verifiable in the reasoning of each decision,” said Mijan.
For the AIRE Centre, the focus on reasoning reflects its core mission of supporting the effective domestic application of the Convention.
“Strengthening judicial reasoning goes to the heart of what the AIRE Centre does. The European Convention on Human Rights is designed to be applied first and foremost at the national level. When domestic courts reason their decisions clearly and in line with Strasbourg standards, they provide effective protection of rights at home and reduce the need for corrective intervention by the European Court of Human Rights,” said Martina Raguž, Head of Strategic Engagement and Legal Affairs at the AIRE Centre.
Under conditions of increasing caseloads and public scrutiny, methodological rigour and well-reasoned decisions remain essential to legal certainty, institutional credibility, and the rule of law.
