The Prosecutor's Office is without a chief at least until Wednesday

The prosecutor's organization will be beheaded for at least two days, because the Prosecutor's Council did not elect a new Acting Supreme State Prosecutor yesterday, after the termination of the mandate of the Acting VDT Maja Jovanović.

The Law on the State Prosecutor's Office, but also the Rules of Procedure, did not legally regulate what to do in such situations.

"Vijesti" interlocutors, however, claim that such a situation will not lead to the blocking of that institution, because it is expected that the job of determining Maja Jovanović's successor will certainly be completed on Wednesday.

At yesterday's session, the Prosecutor's Council did not choose between the two candidates who applied for the post of acting VDT, because the lawyer Milorad Miško Marković nor the special prosecutor Sanja Jovićević they did not get the necessary majority to be elected for the acting mandate.

Marković lacked a vote, because five members of the TS supported the lawyer to take over the management of the prosecutor's organization, while Sanja Jovićević was supported only by female prosecutors Đurđina Nina Ivanovic i Tatjana Begović, while the others abstained.

"I would suggest that the session be adjourned, and that we meet again tomorrow or the day after tomorrow so that in the meantime we can familiarize ourselves with the names of the candidates from the list of prosecutors," said a member of the TS Siniša Gazivoda.

His proposal was supported by the other members of the TS, so that it will be known only on Wednesday, after 14 pm, which of the prosecutors will sit in the most important chair of the State Prosecutor's Office.

Milanović in the game

The Secretariat of the Prosecutorial Council submitted to the members of the Prosecutorial Council a list containing 43 names of prosecutors who, according to Article 43 of the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office, have the right to be designated as acting VDT.

Insiders claim that the head of the Basic State Prosecutor's Office has the best chance of being elected to a six-month acting mandate. Dusko Milanović, who has been a career prosecutor for almost 20 years.

Milanović worked his way up from prosecutor to head of the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Cetinje, and then this convocation of the TS elected him as head of ODT Podgorica this summer when he had a convincing advantage over his opponent. In the last convocation, Milanović was also a member of the Prosecutor's Council.

Apart from Milanović, another option is also being considered...

In order for one of the prosecutors to be designated as the acting VDT, the Prosecutorial Council must, in addition to the majority in that body, also have the consent of that prosecutor to fulfill the acting mandate of the VDT.

Great resume, but...

At the invitation of TS, lawyer Milorad Marković and prosecutor Sanja Jovićević applied for the position of acting VDT, which is why during the session almost all members expressed the opinion that their biographies were great, but you could hear that Marković was complaining about not having prosecutorial experience.

The key complaint that caused the majority of TS members to abstain during the vote for prosecutor Jovićević was that she did not resign from the Prosecutorial Council when she applied for the position of acting VDT, because they believe that Article 27 of the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office limits such a possibility.

"Sanja Jovićević has great human and professional references, but bearing in mind the limiting legal article - I will abstain during the vote. I have never had any communication with Marković in my life, but his Work Program shows that he is a professional", said the TS member. Borivoje Đukanović.

They voted for Marković to be the head of VDT Stevo Muk, Bojan Božović, Miloš Vuksanović, Filip Jovović and Đukanović.

Prosecutor Ivanović said during the discussion that she had the feeling that those TS members wanted to "eliminate the candidate Jovićević".

"That's not right. You have said enough about colleague Marković, I would not like to repeat myself. But I want to say who Sanja Jovićević is. A career prosecutor with almost 19 years of work in the prosecutor's organization and has come a long way with an exceptional work resume. We should keep in mind that we are appointing an acting officer, someone who knows the prosecutor's organization and work. That's why I think her biography recommends her for the position of Acting VDT", stated Ivanovic.

Gazivoda, as last year

The respected lawyer Siniša Gazivoda, yesterday as well as last February 5, when Maja Jovanović was elected, was of the opinion that the incumbent should be elected from the prosecutor's organization.

"Given the fact that Jovićević is a member of the TS and that she did not resign in this procedure, I will not be able to support her application. I agree with Marković that it is a biography where a huge amount of effort has been invested, but my view is that someone who aspires to the position of Acting VDT must be someone who has professional and practical experience in the judiciary. This is where the old question from February of last year, whether a person who is not a prosecutor can be appointed as the acting VDT, also opens up. Such a thing would be legal, but respecting the authority of the opinion of the Venice Commission, from which it follows that someone who is the state prosecutor should be appointed as acting VDT, I voted last year that Maja Jovanović should be appointed then. Especially respecting the authority of the opinion of the Venice Commission, I still stand by that position," said Gazivoda.

Yesterday, TS stated the termination of the acting mandate of Maja Jovanović, who managed the prosecutor's organization in two mandates of six months each. She will remain working as a prosecutor in the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office.

The state prosecutor's organization has been in an acting mandate since October 2019, and the TS is in the process of choosing a proposal between three candidates who applied for a public call for the VDT in a full mandate.

The archers are still looking for justice

The representative of the Mašnić family - Neđeljko Mašnić was also yesterday in front of the meeting hall of the Prosecutor's Council, where he asked the future acting VDT to dismiss the prosecutor Sofija Lukovac from Nikšić.

This summer, the Court of Justice made a decision that the complaint of the Mašnić family against the prosecutor Lukovac was justified, because she did not comply with all procedural steps when she led the investigation after the traffic accident in the summer of 2018 when the son and father, Vuk and Đorđije Mašnić, died near Jasenovo Polje.