Gošović: The Democratic MP's proposal was rejected, a scandalous decision of the Constitutional Court

The Constitutional Court of Montenegro issued a statement that at the session held on December 26.12.2018, XNUMX. adopted a decision by a majority of votes on the rejection of the proposal of five representatives of Democratic Montenegro for determining the unconstitutionality of the provisions of the Law on Civil Procedure, which stipulates that the Protector of Property and Legal Interests of Montenegro, in proceedings in which the provisions of the Law on Civil Procedure are applied, when regarding the costs of the procedure, he has the right to the reward that is recognized to the lawyer, and that the funds awarded on that basis belong to the budget of Montenegro, announced today Neven Gošović, a member of the Presidency of Democratic Montenegro.

"The aforementioned, scandalous decision of the Constitutional Court has nothing in common with respect for the principles of constitutionality and the protection of human rights and freedoms. One of the basic human rights is the availability of courts and the equality of parties in exercising their rights and obligations. The challenged provision of the Law on Civil Procedure, which as agreed The Constitution was supported by the majority of the judges of the Constitutional Court, it is in direct opposition to one of the basic goals of judicial reform, strengthening the availability of judicial bodies, i.e. achieving access to justice," Gošović pointed out.

He added that the contested decision prevents citizens from seeking legal protection, fearing the enormous costs of court proceedings.

"The right of a person to establish the existence of a violation of a certain right before an independent and impartial court cannot be limited by claiming the costs of the procedure from the state, which is supposed to ensure and protect human rights. Such a limitation is contrary to the provisions of the Constitution and confirmed and published international documents on human rights. It intimidates citizens from suing the state when it violates their rights. In this way, it encourages the violation of human rights, instead of protecting those rights. These are provisions that privilege the state, instead of being an equal participant in court proceedings," said Gošović.

According to him, the recommendation of the Council of Europe on measures that facilitate access to court indicates that the state should not demand unreasonable sums of money from the parties in court proceedings, while the European Court of Human Rights in one of its judgments took the view that the right to a court violated if costs appear as a real obstacle to exercising that right.

"The contested provision of the Law on Civil Procedure represents a gross encroachment on the independence and independence of the legal profession, in the way that the state institution is given the right to award the costs of the proceedings and awards for work in court and other proceedings in accordance with the Lawyer's Tariff, which rights in procedures for providing legal assistance can only belong to lawyers," said Gošović.

He also said that the activities performed by the Protector of Property and Legal Interests of Montenegro, his deputies and officials of that institution, are not legal activities, nor are these persons lawyers.

"Therefore, the Lawyer's Tariff cannot in any way be used as a benchmark for determining the reward and compensation for the work of the Protector of Property and Legal Interests of Montenegro. the interests of Montenegro are provided by the citizens of Montenegro. All these are the reasons why the mentioned provisions of the Law on Civil Procedure had to be removed from the legal system of Montenegro. Violating the principles of the rule of law, and the freedom and rights of citizens, acting according to the dictates of the current government, the Constitutional Court, by the majority of votes he decided otherwise," concluded Gošović.