Marković: They don't regret traveling, and they don't pay consultants

The President of the Constitutional Court, Milan Marković, accused the politicians who criticized the work of that court, with the support of the media, of trying to convince the public of the correctness and necessity of the "assassination of the Constitutional Court".

Reacting to accusations by Socialist People's Party (SNP) deputy Neven Gošović and professor Đorđe Blažić that the Constitutional Court is one of the most untimely in Montenegro, Marković said that the lack of promptness in resolving cases is not the result of indolence. He explained that the accumulation of cases occurred after the adoption of the Constitution in 2007, when that court became competent for constitutional appeals by citizens due to violations of human rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, after exhausting all effective legal remedies.

"With the new jurisdiction, the number of cases has increased significantly, more than a thousand percent compared to the previous period, and the number of judges and constitutional court advisers, who are important caseworkers in all constitutional courts, has remained the same. During the sessions, the court resolved about 40 cases on average, which is half of the total resolved cases per year that the court resolved before 2007," Marković announced.

He stated that the Court increased the number of advisers with the Rulebook on Systematization of Jobs, but that due to the lack of money in the budget, it could not be implemented. "It should be noted that in the first six months of this year, the Assembly spent 326.997 euros for the official trips of the "assassin", which would be enough for the Constitutional Court of Montenegro to be effective as the protector of human rights and freedoms and the protector of the legal system and order." He said that the amendments to the Constitution did not comply with the recommendations of the Venice Commission, which proposed that the Constitutional Court have nine judges, and that the President of Montenegro elect three judges, while the Assembly and the Judicial Council elect three. As he recalled, the Venice Commission proposed that the mandate of judges last 12 years and that the president of the court be elected by the judges. Amendments to the Constitution provide that judges are elected in parliament by a two-thirds majority.

The president of the Socialist People's Party (SNP), Srđan Milić, said that the message that the constitutional changes are an attack on the autonomy and independence of the Constitutional Court is a confirmation of the correctness of the amendment to the Constitution. He said that it is problematic that judges of the Constitutional Court attack international institutions.

"When they say that the constitutional changes in the judiciary and the assassination of the Constitutional Court were also organized by criminal groups from abroad, someone really has to raise the issue of the responsibility of that judge and the Constitutional Court. "Are the criminal groups the European Commission, the Venice Commission, representatives of the OSCE and ODIHR, or those ambassadors who were in the Parliament," said Milić on Radio Montenegro.

He assessed that the fact that the Constitutional Court invalidated the earlier Agreement of the opposition leaders and former Prime Minister Igor Lukšić on the name of the teaching subject for the mother tongue ahead of the vote on amendments to the Constitution was designed to force the SNP to vote against and thus mark it as an opponent of the continuation of the European integration process. .

"It was a provocation agreed at the top of the parliament with individuals from the opposition. The top of the SDP exerted political pressure on the Constitutional Court, and the political foxes from the opposition ranks cried for the Serbian language, for the protection of which they did nothing in Montenegro all their lives, and they got income just by talking about the Serbian language," Milić said. .

Zoran Lakušić from the Democratic Front called on Milić to reveal who from the DF participated in breaking the agreement on the Serbian language.

Gošović: I will not go to the Constitutional Court

SNP MP Neven Gošović denied that the party supported the changes to the Constitution because it had previously agreed with the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) that one position of judge of the Constitutional Court would belong to him.

“It's a simple fabrication. It is unfeasible first of all from the aspect of political affiliation, transparency of the public quorum. "We have determined that for the post of judge of the Constitutional Court, a candidate must have 15 years of work in the profession and at least forty years of life," said Gošović.

Interlocutors of "Vijesti" from the top of the government claim that such an agreement existed with the SNP, in order to secure the necessary two-thirds majority for changes to the Constitution. Gošović previously announced that the adopted solutions ensure that the selection of judges of the Constitutional Court will no longer depend solely on the will of the majority of the parties in power, and enables the selection of expert people without any political affiliation.