The Supreme Court claims that it will respect the recommendations of the EC, but not about Medenica's resignation

The Supreme Court will comply with the recommendations of the European Commission, they told "Vijesti" from that institution without specifying whether President Vesna Medenica will resign from that position, which she holds for the third term.

They repeated that the resignation of the President of the Supreme Court is her personal act and that she will keep it to herself.

"Regarding the question you sent us, we inform you that the President of the Supreme Court of Montenegro, Vesna Medenica, has repeatedly repeated her position on resigning from office. We remind you that at the Annual Media Conference of the Supreme Court, held in June of this year, Medenica said that the issue of her resignation was her personal act and that she would keep it to herself," the Supreme Court's answer to the question of "Vijesti" as to whether the president will of the Supreme Court to resign, given the criticism in the European Commission's report, as well as part of the public in Montenegro.

When asked how they comment on the fact that the EC once again points to the problem of the independence of the judiciary in Montenegro, they answered that the Supreme Court, as before, will make a full contribution to the adoption of the standards and values ​​that are the heritage of the EU and "will comply with the recommendations of the EC".

In a report published on Tuesday, the EC expressed concern about the way the Judicial Council interpreted the Constitution last year and thus allowed the President of the Supreme Court to be elected for the third time. The EC also pointed to this problem last year in informal documents (non-paper).

"The decision of the Judicial Council to re-appoint seven court presidents, including the president of the Supreme Court, for at least a third term, raises serious concerns about the interpretation of the constitutional and legal framework, which limits these appointments to a maximum of two terms in order to prevent excessive concentration of power in the judiciary," pointed out from the EC and recalled the statement of the Deputy Prime Minister Zoran Pažin, who suggested that those who were elected in this way should resign.

This, as pointed out, is not in accordance with the GRECO recommendations on the independence of the judiciary, which Montenegro is expected to comply with, in order not to nullify earlier achievements in judicial reform.

They also add that the professional capacity of the members of the Judicial and Prosecutorial Council is causing concern.

The Judicial Council did not answer the questions of "Vijesti" regarding the criticisms of the European Commission.

In July, Pažin said in the Parliament that five years ago he was against the election of presidents of the courts, who have now received their third term, before "anyone raised this issue and before the interest of the European Commission".

He said that he considered even then that it was not a question of constitutionality and legality, but that it was about the need to respect international legal standards that dictate that there should be no concentration of power in the courts.