The announcement of the Prosecutor's Council under the designation TS - 6/21, published at the beginning of the summer of 2021, has taken an unusual path and there is still no certainty of the election of three state prosecutors to the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office.
Apparently, instead of deciding which of the registered prosecutors will go to the umbrella prosecutor's instance, it is more certain that the suspension of that procedure will soon follow if the provisions of the current draft on amendments to the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office are adopted.
The former convocation of the Supreme Court, at the very beginning of the mandate of the Acting Supreme State Prosecutor Drazen Burić, ten days after the change in the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office, published on June 22, 2021, a public advertisement for three state prosecutors in the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office.
When asked by "Vijesti" what will happen to the advertisement, which changed two convocations of that body and will soon turn three years old from its publication, the Prosecutor's Council stated that the public will be informed about the decision...
"One of the proposed agenda items of the XXIII session of the Prosecutor's Council, which was held on January 11, 2023, was an interview with candidates for the election of three state prosecutors in the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office. The agenda was changed at the session itself, which was noted in the minutes of the session. You will be informed about the decision of the Prosecutor's Council regarding this issue," the Prosecutor's Council's reply states.
That the advertisement will most likely not be completed can be assumed from the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office, because the final provisions in Article 184f stipulate that the procedures for the election of state prosecutors and heads of state prosecution offices and the promotion of state prosecutors, which were initiated by according to the provisions of the current Law on the State Prosecutor's Office and have not been completed, be suspended by force of law if the planned legal solution is adopted.
This article was subsequently inserted into the Draft Amendments to the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office, and according to unofficial information from Vijesta, this was done at the suggestion of the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office, which he manages Milorad Marković.
The work on amendments to the Laws on the State Prosecutor's Office is in its final phase, and this legal solution is part of the package that the Ministry of Justice must deliver to obtain temporary benchmarks in the area of the rule of law - IBAR.
Special prosecutors applied for TS's advertisement in the summer of 2021 Sanja Jovićević, current manager of ODT Podgorica Dusko Milanović, the prosecutor Vojislav Grujić and the prosecutor from Nikšić Vjera Mićunović. The candidacy was originally submitted by the plaintiff Vesna Jovićević, but has since retired.
The ad was kept in a drawer for two and a half years because first the mandate of the former members of the TS was terminated in August 2021, after which the members of the current Council had more work to do in solving a large number of accumulated obligations from filling the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office.
Jovićević was a member of the TS from August 5, 2021, but on the last day of November 2023, she resigned from membership in that body.
On June 22, 2021, the former convocation of the Prosecutorial Council, at the very beginning of the mandate of Acting Supreme State Prosecutor Dražen Burić, published on June 22, 2021 a public advertisement for three state prosecutors in the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office, which is still current
As a representative of the prosecutor's organization in TS, Article 27 of the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office would not allow her to do so, although she submitted her candidacy for promotion to the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office before being elected as a member of the Council.
A few days after that, the Ministry of Justice reacted, sending an opinion that Jovićević's candidacy should be rejected as inadmissible due to the existence of a conflict of interest.
Near the end of her mandate, former acting VDT Tatjana Begović scheduled a session of the Prosecutor's Council on January 11, 2024, where one of the items on the agenda was interviews with candidates registered for advertisement TS-6/21.
One of the proposed items on the agenda of the XXIII session of the Prosecutor's Council, which was held on January 11, 2023, was an interview with candidates for the election of three state prosecutors in the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office. The agenda was changed at the session itself, which was noted in the minutes of the session. You will be informed about the decision of the Prosecutor's Council regarding this issue," the Prosecutor's Council's reply states.
On the eve of the session, a member of the TS Siniša Gazivoda he sent a letter to his colleagues from the Council, where he expressed his opinion that it would be necessary for that body, before the interview, to take a position on the content of Article 27 of the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office, which stipulates that during the term of office in the Prosecutor's Council, a member of the state prosecutors shall not can be elected to the state prosecution office of a higher level or for the head of the state prosecution office...
At the session, the members first voted to reject the candidacy of Sanja Jovićević, but the proposal of the representative of the Ministry of Justice, Aleksandar Bakrač, did not receive support.
Gazivoda's proposal to cancel the advertisement for three prosecutor positions in the VDT, and to announce a new one, also remained without support, with the clarification that such an option would be the fairest solution.
Due to the different interpretation of Article 27 of the current Law on the State Prosecutor's Office last year, the European Commission also reacted, which in a report expressed concern about compliance with that provision, and in the case when the Prosecutor's Council appointed the acting VDT, Tatjana Begović, only a few hours after submitting her resignation. to membership in TS.
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