Status date: 18 September 2026. Status: In force. Instrument: Pravilnik o sadržaju pisane pouke o pravima lica lišenog slobode (Rulebook on the content of the written letter of rights of a person deprived of liberty), Sl. list CG 135/2026, act 2331, published on 16 September 2026 and, under its Article 3, in force from the following day, 17 September 2026.
We are writing this to close a gap we left open ourselves. When we set out the amended Criminal Procedure Code, we said that as of 11 September 2026 we could find no published form, and that we therefore could not tell you which document would be placed in front of you at a police station on 17 September. The document now exists. Below is what it says, which deadlines it carries, and which question it still leaves unanswered.
What the text says
The rulebook itself runs to three articles. Article 1 states the subject, Article 2 says the form is annexed and that the annex is an integral part of the rulebook, and Article 3 gives the date it takes effect. The substance is the annex: a single-page document headed PISANA POUKA O PRAVIMA LICA LIŠENOG SLOBODE, divided into eight lettered sections.
Those sections cover, in order: the right to a confidential conversation with defence counsel, the statement that the lawyer is independent of the police, and the duty of the police to help you make contact with one (A); the right to learn why you are held and which offence is suspected (B); the right to use your own language and to interpretation (C); the right not to give a statement, with silence excluded as proof of guilt (D); access to the case documents needed to challenge the lawfulness of your arrest (E); the right to ask that a person of your choice be told, and, if you are a foreign national, the diplomatic or consular representative of your state (F); medical assistance (G); and the deadlines (H).
Section H is where the practical value sits. The hours that are usually argued over are now printed on the paper in the detained person's own hands.
| What happens | Deadline | If the deadline passes |
|---|---|---|
| Police bring you before the state prosecutor | 24 hours at the latest from the deprivation of liberty | The police must release you immediately |
| Prosecutorial detention (zadržavanje) | 72 hours at most from the deprivation of liberty | The form states no consequence |
| The detention order is issued and served | Immediately, within two hours at the latest | The form states no consequence |
| Appeal against the detention order | Eight hours from receipt of the order | The right to appeal lapses |
| The investigating judge decides the appeal | Four hours from receiving it | The form states no consequence |
The form prints the 24-hour line in bold and underlines it, and adds a separate sentence: if you are not brought before the prosecutor within that time, the police must release you at once.
One more detail deserves attention, and to our mind it is the most dangerous line on the page. Section C says that if you speak or understand the language of the proceedings you may waive the right to have written submissions translated. The next sentence, also in bold and underlined, is the consequence: if you waive it, those documents will not be translated for you. "I speak some Serbian" can therefore mean an indictment and a judgment that reach you only in Montenegrin.
What the text does not say
Not every open question is closed. The rulebook fixes the content; the annex itself is in Montenegrin only. We cannot show you from this text which languages will be stocked in printed form at a police station. The document's own closing note says the letter is served in your language or one you understand, that where it is not available your rights are explained orally, and that the written version follows "as soon as possible". How many hours that is remains unwritten. Half of our 11 September question is answered; the other half stands.
The second gap is the interpreter. The form tells you that a decision that you do not need an interpreter can be appealed, but gives neither a deadline nor the body that hears it. We did not find those in the Code either.
Our reading
The rulebook rests on Article 5(5) of the Criminal Procedure Code, and that provision empowers the Ministry to fix the content of the notice, nothing more. The conclusion is worth stating plainly: the 24, 72, two, eight and four-hour limits on the form are not created by the rulebook. They restate deadlines that already sit in the Code. The form makes them visible, which is the point; until now you had to open the statute to learn them.
If you are detained, ask for three things in writing: the letter in your own language, a lawyer, and notification of your consulate. If no document is given, or it is given in a language you do not read, ask for that to be entered in the record, together with the time at which you were told your rights orally. You are entitled to keep the letter with you throughout, so do not hand it back. And do not waive translation: that box looks to us like a trap set for people who manage the language in daily life.
What did not change
Consular notification is not new. It was already in the old Article 5 and has simply become part of a written document. It also still depends on your asking for it; nothing happens automatically. The regime for those without means is unchanged as well: the form ties ex officio counsel and legal aid to the conditions in the Zakon o besplatnoj pravnoj pomoći. The rulebook creates no right, sets no new deadline, and does not touch the victim-rights provisions of the Code amendment whose entry into force was deferred.
How to verify
The text is open in the Službeni list archive: sluzbenilist.me/propisi/398214. The record line reads "Službeni list Crne Gore, broj 135/2026", registry number 2331, published 16.09.2026, in force 17.09.2026. Two phrases confirm it: "stupa na snagu narednog dana od dana objavljivanja" in Article 3, and the reference "(Član 5 Zakonika o krivičnom postupku)" under the heading of the annex. The ministerial number is 01-040/26-9073, dated 16 September 2026. The full issue is number 135/2026.
The statutory side, meaning the rewritten Article 5 that made this form compulsory and the other changes that took effect on 17 September, is covered in our note on the Criminal Procedure Code amendment. In Montenegro only an advokat on the Bar roll may act as defence counsel; how such a file is opened and whose name goes on the power of attorney is on our Montenegro lawyer page. Later developments on this subject will be recorded on our Legal Updates page.
