Politicians broke, changes are coming

At tomorrow's session, the Parliament of Montenegro will elect members of the Prosecutor's Council (TS) from the ranks of distinguished lawyers and NGOs, which should bring that body out of a months-long blockade, after the mandate of the previous Council ended due to changes in the law.

Deputies will discuss the proposed candidates in the plenum, after the competent Committee for the Political System, Judiciary and Administration has submitted the proposal and its report to them. The board suggested that new members of the TS should choose lawyers from among distinguished jurists Siniša Gazivoda, Miloš Vuksanović, Filip Jovovic i Borivoj Đukanović.

They were supported by government deputies, while the leader and deputy of the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) also voted for Gazivoda. Rasko Konjević.

Deputies of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and Social Democrats (SD) did not vote in protest due to, as they stated, the absence of dialogue between the government and the opposition about the candidates.

1 candidates applied for the competition for positions among distinguished lawyers in TS, which lasted until July 16, three of whom subsequently withdrew.

Chairman of the Committee and Democrat MP, Momo Koprivica, told "Vijesti" yesterday that the parliamentary body ended the process of determining the list of candidates "effectively, in a responsible, serious and credible manner".

Asked if he feels responsible for the fact that this process could have been completed a few months ago, he replies that time has shown that his and his party's approach was justified. "I didn't want to schedule a meeting before the necessary prerequisites were created, because we would risk failure and repeating the process. However, we had to do everything in a credible, public, responsible and serious manner. We chose candidates who are politically neutral, who are prominent lawyers, excellent experts in procedural law and the organization of the judiciary, credible personalities who enjoy a reputation in the public, and some of them also received the support of the opposition, which certainly contributes to their credibility," Koprivica pointed out.

When asked whether the process of determining the list of candidates is tarnished by the fact that there was no consultation with the opposition, he states that after the consultative hearing of the candidates, he held an informal dialogue with individuals from the opposition, some of whom, as he claims, "expressed their agreement by name in compared to all the candidates" who were proposed yesterday.

"However, it is obvious that - for the sake of performing the play for the public - they made the decision they made... The former government did not conduct any dialogue and consultations in 2014 and 2018, when it formed the TS. That process was completely non-transparent", notes Koprivica.

According to the amendments to the Law on State Prosecution, the TS has 11 members - five from the ranks of prosecutors, four distinguished lawyers, one lawyer from an NGO and a representative of the Ministry of Justice.

President of the Assembly Aleksa Becic announced at the beginning of August six members of the TS, in which the acting (acting) Supreme State Prosecutor (VDT) Drazen Burić, four prosecutors who were elected at the Conference of State Prosecutors - Đurđina Nina Ivanovic, Sanja Jovićević, Tatjana Begović i Nikola Samardzic - and a representative of the Ministry of Justice Boris Marić.

On August 5, the board proposed the president of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Alternatives Steva Muk for a TS member from among NGOs, but the deputies have not yet elected him because the parliamentary body still keeps that proposal in the drawer. The members of the TS are elected by the deputies by a simple majority, and the TS is proclaimed by the president of the parliament.

State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice and member of the TS, Boris Marić, told "Vijesti" that he welcomes the decision of the Committee to create the conditions for completing the TS. "A lot is expected from the TS for a reason, because the prosecution is in an institutional and personnel crisis, as well as a crisis of prosecutorial practice, and the reform impulse should come from the TS", he emphasizes.

Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic announced yesterday that the election of the TS is the most important thing, and that the time has come for the state to function where it stopped - on the issue of justice.

The determination of the list of candidates for TS was welcomed by the vice-prime minister and the leader of the Citizens' Movement URA Dritan Abazovic, who wrote on Twitter that although the decision comes late, it is never too late for justice.

The biographies of the lawyers who have been proposed for TS have been published on the website of the Assembly. Miloš Vuksanović is said to have been an intern at the High Court in Podgorica and an advisor at the Judicial Council before joining the bar.

Filip Jovović was an intern, then an advisor in the Basic Court, and then he became a lawyer. Gazivoda started his career as a lawyer, is an expert of the Council of Europe on freedom of expression, was also engaged at the Faculty of Law, did numerous analyzes and trainings regarding freedom of expression.

The most experienced lawyer, Borivoje Đukanović, was a judge and president of the Basic Court in Podgorica, and then became a lawyer.

Pope: Wide support needed for the appointment of eminent lawyers

The head of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) in Podgorica, Oana Kristina Popa, called on political actors to provide broad support for the appointment of "independent, politically neutral and expert members" of the TS from among distinguished lawyers. She said on Twitter that the EU will continue to monitor the procedure for electing new members of the TS.

"In order to further progress on the road to the EU and meet the temporary criteria for Chapter 23 in the accession negotiations, Montenegro needs to make additional progress in rule of law reforms and initiate a broad inter-party dialogue on the key remaining appointments in the judiciary," said Popa.

Konjević: You don't open a dialogue, and everything is blocked

Raško Konjević assessed that the current leadership of the Assembly behaves as before - it does not want dialogue and does not open it.

"This parliament knew how to reach a two-thirds and three-fifths majority for decisions from 2013 to 2014. We adopted the Constitution and amendments, appointed judges of the Constitutional Court, elected the VDT... You can vote for TS, but don't forget that everything else is blocked, and you don't open a dialogue. If we had opened it, I am sure that we would have reached a solution for TS, even though a two-thirds majority is not required for the election", said Konjević at the Board session.

He voted that in addition to Gazivoda, Marica Babović, Elvis Duraković and Maja Zeković should be members of the TS.

They will elect a new VDT at the constitutive session

According to the amendments to the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office, which entered into force in June, Burić will have to resign at the first constitutive session of the new TS.

Article 184C of the law states that the TS, elected in accordance with that act, will determine the acting VDT at the first constitutive session and state the termination of duties of the previous acting VDT, which was determined before the law came into force, that is, before the session was held.