Binding European standards for the reform of prosecutorial laws do not exist, there are only two principles of the Venice Commission (VK), namely that the advancement of the prosecutor should be based on knowledge, expertise and experience and that this should be harmonized for advancement.
This was said by lawyer and former Minister of Justice Dragan Šoć at the panel discussion "Reform of the State Prosecutor's Office" organized under the auspices of the European Law Students' Association of Montenegro - ELSA Montenegro (The European Law Students' Association).
He added that he was surprised that the Supreme Court gave a positive opinion for the amendment of the prosecutor's laws in 2013, which are still in force.
"You have to know that the members of the Supreme Court come from the countries they come from and that they do not know the tradition and history of Montenegro. They stated that there are no two countries in Europe that elect members of the prosecution in the same way," Šoć said.
He stressed that the current way of electing the President of the Supreme Court and the Supreme State Prosecutor is terrible and added that the prosecution is part of the executive branch.
"The prosecutor's office is an integral part of the executive power, like the police or customs administration, and we have ministers who will say tomorrow, don't ask me, the government has nothing to do with the prosecutor's office," pointed out Šoć.
He emphasized that he would pass prosecutorial laws without the European Commission, because the existing ones are bad.
He also said that the system must be changed with personal solutions and that the system must be unblocked.
"Any transformation must begin with changing people. The people who were in the system must change," he said.
Šoć pointed out that the representatives of the new government must show the political will to unblock the system and in making accusations they should respect the presumption of innocence.
Laković Drašković: Prosecutorial laws must not be adopted without the EC
Marijana Laković Drašković, who has been leading the negotiation process with the EU for years, said that prosecutorial laws should not be adopted outside the EC, because this could trigger the balance clause and jeopardize Montenegro's path to the EU.
She pointed out that the current prosecutorial legislative framework in Montenegro is good, and as such it has been evaluated positively by the EU.
"We have temporary benchmarks and with a new methodology, when we meet the temporary benchmarks we can enter the EU, if we adopt these laws we are done with the benchmarks. The EC is waiting for the requests of the VC to be met," said Laković-Drašković.
She pointed out that, nevertheless, she believes that the new majority will not adopt them.
Šoć said that the positions of the EC and the VC are being twisted and that they are interested in the application of the law.
"They will observe whether the prosecutor is effective. The American ambassador said that rights should not only be on paper," Šoć said.
He added that a functional system is necessary and that it is the natural right of every government to organize as it sees fit and considers to be the most effective.
"It will not jeopardize legal security, this is a technical and organizational law that concerns one branch called the prosecution and will enable the new government to deal with this branch," Šoć pointed out.
Katnić: The new government wants to remove me because of personal revenge
Chief Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnić said that the new government wants to remove him because of personal revenge.
"Political revenge against the GST, and that is because of the criminal acts that we prosecuted, they will do everything to implement it," said Katnić.
He said that they "confused" everything with the proposed laws and that it is illogical that, if these laws are adopted, the prosecutor's council will be made up of people outside the prosecutor's office, as well as that it will be a political council.
"The results of the SDT are good and significant, and this is shown by the reports through the Assembly and through the evaluations of the EC on Chapters 23 and 24, as far as criticisms of selectivity are concerned, 37 indictments have been filed against different persons," said Katnić.
He said that the legislative power has the legitimacy to change laws, because it was elected in the elections, but it must have legality.
"There are no circumstances for changing the law in any norm, nor was there any need for it, the highest standards exist as in every civilized world," said Katnić.
Bosniak: The part that has metastasized should be cut off, not treated with mint
The Vice-President of the Assembly Branka Bošnjak, answering the question why they did not consult the prosecutors when writing the prosecution laws, said that it was due to the urgency of changes in the prosecution, because that "part has metastasized and should be cut off, not treated with mint".
She added that she will vote for the prosecution laws regardless of the opinion of the Supreme Court and that the MPs will not vote for any other law until the prosecution laws are passed.
"If the prosecution had worked properly, what is being done would not have been done. The SDT organizes the press every now and then, they brag about the cases. Here, a case has been opened for KAP, even though the case has been in a drawer for 10 years. They are still scrambling," she said. Bosniak.
She pointed out that there must be a systemic shock when it comes to the prosecution.
"It is a captive institution. We deputies made changes, with a consultative meeting with the Ministry of Justice. The minister was enthusiastic about the bill. We were not obliged as deputies to hold public hearings. The public knows very well how rotten the prosecution is. We are persistent in this that we will not vote on any law until this law is passed," Bošnjak said.
Laković Drašković reminded that Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić said today that he will not support changes to the law that the EC is against.
Laković Draškoivić emphasized that the representatives of the new government signed agreements in which they undertake not to deviate from the path of the European Union, but that these proposed laws show the opposite.
The Bosniak replied that the European Union was not against the content, but the form.
"These laws would not slow down the road, the reason for their adoption is because we constantly receive criticism on the road to the EU. In Germany, the special state prosecutor is chosen by the minister of justice," Bošnjak said.
The Bosniak asked Katnić why he is waging personal wars through SDT and whether his participation in the film "Conspiracy" is self-promotion.
Katnić said that he does not fight personal wars, and that he participated in the film, because the new government thought to leave him without a job.
"I took part in the film "Conspiracy" on purpose, because the new government thought it would put me out of work, so I wanted to switch to acting a bit," said Katnić.
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