ŽEljka Jovović was elected president of the Basic Court in Podgorica despite the opposition of both her opponents, who demanded that the judge be excluded from the selection process Rade Ćetković.
Judge Katarina Janković in a letter to the Judicial Council, and the judge Dragan Babović in the request for exemption, which "Vijesti" had access to, they stated that Ćetković had to exempt himself, because he has close collegial and friendly relations with Jovović, which represents a conflict of interest.
The Judicial Council responded to "Vijesta" that it is true that two candidates requested the exemption of one member of the Council at the session itself: "The Judicial Council, that is, the president, made a decision to reject them, in accordance with Article 10 of the Rules of Procedure of the Judicial Council".
"The president explained the reasons for the rejection orally to the candidates, which was noted in the minutes," the Secretariat of the Judicial Council replied to "Vijesti".
In the letter of Judge Janković, it was pointed out that the President of the Judicial Council Radoja Korac and the members of the Council, he addresses first as a citizen, and then as a judge, "whose first and foremost goal is to undertake all mechanisms to make the judiciary better and thereby contribute to strengthening the public's trust in the work of the judiciary".
Janković pointed out to Korac and the members of the Council the unequal treatment of Ćetković:
"Who did not recuse himself when deciding on the election of the president of the Basic Court in Podgorica, for the reason that he is in close collegial - friendly relations with the candidate who was elected president".
She reminded them that Article 3 of the Law on the Judicial Council and Judges stipulates that the members of the Judicial Council must be persons of high moral and professional qualities, and that in the performance of their duties they act independently and impartially, "and what in the specific case of the member of the Judicial Council, Judge Rado Ćetković was absent".
"This is for the reason that close collegial - friendly relations, as the reasons for the disqualification of Judge Rado Ćetković, were the same reasons for which the appointee disqualified himself at his personal request when deciding on the competition for the election of the President of the Court of Appeal. Therefore, if the member of the council, judge Rade Ćetković, was convinced that there are circumstances that can affect impartial decision-making during the election of a judge Mladen Grdinić for the President of the Commercial Court, who was also his colleague at the time of the election, I believe that in this particular case the reasons were stated in the request for the disqualification of Judge Rado Ćetković, and what the circumstances were in terms of the provisions of Article 10. al.6 of the Rules of Procedure of the Judicial Council, for his exemption when deciding on the election for the president of the Basic Court in Podgorica", writes in the letter of Judge Janković.
JOVOVIĆ ASKED THAT EVERYONE SUPPORT ĆETKOVIĆ
She pointed out to the Council that once, since Ćetković has been a member of that body, she applied for the election of a judge of the High Court, and that at that time she did not ask for his disqualification - "even though my colleagues and his colleagues from the court were elected... because really collegial relations and they do not have to be a reason for exemption".
"However, when it comes to collegial relations, a distinction should be made, taking into account the closeness and intensity of those collegial relations, because in this particular case it is a well-known fact that the member of the Judicial Council, judge Rade Ćetković, is in very close and intense collegial relations - friendly relations with the candidate who was elected president of the Basic Court. Namely, that friendly relations are at stake, confirmed by the fact that the candidate who was elected president of the court was his mentor for many years, that she was at his wedding, that it was she who gave the greatest support for Judge Rade Ćetković to be a member of the Judicial Council. pointing out at the court session that he is the best candidate and that we should all support him, while also bearing in mind the inefficiency of those collegial relations in daily work and during the election itself, as well as the circumstances in terms of Article 10. al.6 of the Rules of Procedure of the Judicial Council, for his exemption. That my doubts about his impartiality were justified is also supported by the way he was evaluated, that he evaluated my work program the worst out of all the members of the council," wrote Janković.
She reminded Korać and the members of the Council that non-governmental organizations have repeatedly pointed out that "the presence at the wedding and close collegial relations at the time of the election, and that the circumstances that indicate that there are reasons for exemption, that these circumstances additionally cast a shadow on the election process and indicate malpractice”.
"During the explanation of the decision rejecting the request for the disqualification of the member of the Judicial Council, Judge Rado Ćetković, by the President of the Judicial Council, Radoj Korać, I was told that the practice of the Judicial Council until now was that, for the reasons stated in my request for disqualification, the members of the Judicial Council they do not exclude. I would like to point out that during my interview, the president of the Judicial Council himself pointed out that sometimes it is desirable to change the established judicial practice and deviate from the given standards, and all in the spirit of legality and fairness, with which I absolutely agree. Therefore, the fact that the Judicial Council previously did not exclude members of the council due to close collegial relations is not a reason not to act differently in the future, to deviate from the current practice and to send a message that the Judicial Council is on the right track to eliminate all doubts that call into question his impartiality, and thus the legality of his decision-making", she writes in her letter.
And the rest are good with Jovović
The Judicial Council replied to "Vijesta" that in the requests of judges Janković and Babović, with which they requested the disqualification of judge Ćetković, there were no mandatory reasons provided for in Article 10 of the Rules of Procedure.
They also claim that other members of the Council from the ranks of judges have similar or the same professional relations with Jovović, as with judge Ćetković.
"Which are prescribed as reasons to exclude a member of the Council from participating in consideration of issues and decision-making, and the Council was guided by previous practice in similar cases that referred to impartial decision-making. In particular, other members of the Council from the ranks of judges have similar or the same professional relations with the candidate Jovović," the answer reads.
Vesna Medenica and the "good soldier"
Judge Dragan Babović also requested an exemption due to messages exchanged between Jovović and the former president of the Supreme Court, Vesna Medenica, in which they referred to that judge as "their good soldier".
Ćetković informed Korać and the members of the Council that he had already asked them and the Ministry of Finance to determine whether Ćetković and the other judges of the criminal department of the Podgorica OS were paid according to the law.
He emphasized that his request resulted in an examination before the Special State Prosecutor's Office.
"In addition to the above, during the election of a member of the Judicial Council from among the judges, the president of the court Željka Jovović said at the session of judges of the Basic Court in Podgorica that Rade Ćetković is the best candidate for the member of the Judicial Council from among the judges and that we should all support him, so as not to the votes would be scattered, so I said that I would personally support the candidate for the member of the Judicial Council, the honest and honorable judge Mladen Paunović, which was heard by Rade Ćetkovic, as well as all the judges who attended the session", he wrote in the request for exemption , which Vijesti had access to.
In that request, Judge Babović also referred to the presence of Judge Jovović at Judge Ćetković's wedding.
"All of the above points to the close friendly relations of the member of the Judicial Council, Rado Ćetković, with the candidate Željka Jovović, and causes justified doubts about his impartiality when making the decision on the selection based on this advertisement."
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