The Judicial Council elected Valentina Pavličić as the President of the Supreme Court of Montenegro.
Pavličić is a former representative of Montenegro before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, a former judge of the Basic and Special Divisions of the High Court in Podgorica.
All seven members of the Council present voted for her election, after ten of the 15 judges of the Supreme Court previously voted for her to be their proposal for president.
Acting President of the Supreme Court Vesna Vučković did not attend the Council session because she was one of the candidates, while Minister of Justice Bojan Božović left the session before the vote. With that, he remains of the position that the Government respects the recommendation of the Greeks on non-interference of the minister in the work of the judicial branch of government.
Pavličić said before the Council that the situation in the judiciary is not good, and that the figures show that the Montenegrin court system is not able to handle the influx of cases.
She pointed out that those who baselessly attack judges and courts must be aware that they are undermining the state.
"Too loud politics has silenced the judiciary. I didn't sign up to drink coffee at the Supreme Court, I can do that in my free time, but I signed up to contribute to strengthening the judiciary," said Pavličić.
Regarding the work of the Special Department of the High Court, she stated that corruption and organized crime cases cannot be tried as before, and that each of the "special" judges must have a personal work program, how and in what way they will complete their cases.
The leading position in the Supreme Court has been vacant since December 2020, when Vesna Medenica resigned from that position. Since then, Stanka Vučinić managed the court in an acting capacity, and then Vesna Vučković for three years and two months.
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