The proposed amendments to the Law on the Judicial Council and Judges enable a member of the Judicial Council from the ranks of distinguished lawyers to remain in that position for up to two years after the end of his term of office and until the election of a new member, which is an unacceptably long period of time and for the purpose of protecting the legal order. they need to act by amendment in order to shorten that deadline, announced the Action for Social Justice (ASP).
The non-governmental organization (NGO) noted that according to the Constitution of Montenegro, the mandate of the Judicial Council lasts four years.
"The proposed changes now specify that the same person can be elected as a member of the Judicial Council no more than twice, while the president and members of the Judicial Council from the ranks of distinguished lawyers, whose mandate expires at the end of the term for which they were elected, continue to perform their duties until the election and announcement of new members of the Judicial Council from the ranks of distinguished lawyers, and the longest period is two years. it should be avoided to allow a huge space of time for various trades in connection with the election of the members of the Judicial Council," the statement said.
The ASP points out that, although it is an unblocking mechanism, there are optimal and not excessive time limits for such mechanisms, and, they say, everyone in this country should be aware of their own responsibilities in ensuring the rule of law in it. and especially those who manage from the legislative-executive-judicial level".
They said that, if such a provision remains, it will practically open the possibility that a member of the Judicial Council from among distinguished lawyers, who would be elected for two full mandates, and whose mandate would expire in both cases, and because of the non-election of new ones, he would remain in that position position for up to two years, could have spent the entire 12 years in that position.
They added that it is an unacceptably long period, "especially considering the previous experience with this issue and the long-term management of the Judicial Council from the acting position".
"In addition, the legal novelty is that a member of the Judicial Council from among distinguished lawyers cannot be a person who in the last five years has been a high-level official of a political party (party president, member of the presidency, deputy president of the party, i.e. member of the presidency, member of the executive or main committee, party council member and other party functionary) or directly elected in the elections or held the position of a member of the Government. it would be expedient and socially justifiable to increase it to at least eight years. area, which is considered to be the most critical institutional point in the country and a serious obstacle in the further integration process," the announcement reads.
The ASP said that one can get the impression that there was quite a large influence, they say, precisely from the judicial sphere on many legal solutions, "and bearing in mind that special emphasis in the legal amendments was placed on the material status of the holders of judicial authority ".
"Thus, to the principle of independence and independence, 'material independence' is now added, which is defined as 'a judge has the right to a salary and a pension in accordance with the dignity of the judicial function and the judge's responsibility, and that the amount of the judge's salary and pension guarantees his independence and material In addition, in the section on judges' rights, it is now indicated that "judges exercise the right to salary, remuneration, other income and rights in connection with the performance of judicial functions in accordance with the law regulating the salaries of holders of judicial offices, and judges exercise rights from work and on the basis of work in accordance with the general labor regulations'. In addition, it is written that the Judicial Council, within its competences, does not only give opinions on draft regulations in the field of justice, which has been the case so far. but also on the draft regulations related to the salaries and exercise of other rights and obligations of judges. All these norms on the material independence of judges certainly follow general European standards, but the citizens of Montenegro, on the other hand, have expectations that judges, which they should pay , they should also judge Europeans and ensure European justice, not according to the powerful and privileged. In the end, although all eyes of the public are turned towards obtaining IBAR this month, which is a chance that should not be wasted, and a set of judicial laws is one of the conditions, many legal provisions should not be 'broken at the knees', but there is time for repairs, because otherwise the entire democratic processes in the country will pay for it," the statement concluded.
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