Minister of Justice Marko Kovač said that one of his priorities is the depoliticization of the judiciary, recalling that the recent arrests of the former president of the Supreme Court, Vesna Medenica, and the current president of Privredni Blaž Jovanić, have degraded the judicial system in the eyes of the citizens and European partners of the state.
"Not wanting to predict the final outcome of the proceedings in question, I will use this opportunity to recall the latest events and proceedings conducted against the former holders of the highest judicial and state positions in Montenegro, which represent the last straw and degraded the Montenegrin judicial system - both in the eyes of our citizens and in the eyes of all global and European partners to whom Montenegro, as a future member of the EU, bears responsibility," he said.
What have you prioritized?
The goal of this Ministry will be to fulfill the obligations regarding the temporary benchmarks for Negotiating Chapters 23 and 24 as soon as possible, because it is important that they be turned into the final ones as soon as possible. Our priorities will be strengthening the integrity of the judiciary, creating modern and high-quality normative frameworks in the field of civil and criminal law, creating conditions for the process of optimizing the judicial network, strengthening spatial and administrative capacities in the UIKS, as well as additionally strengthening the rights of particularly sensitive categories of persons, especially children , a woman and a person with disabilities. We are planning the drafting of the Civil Code, as a capital important legislative act, but also very large changes to the Criminal Procedure Code and the Criminal Code.
The fight against corruption is one of our priority goals. A precise legal framework and reliable, strong institutions are needed to support the policy of prevention and deterrence from corruption, which will ensure respect for the basic rights of citizens.
This must be emphasized because only an independent, depoliticized and efficient judiciary is a prerequisite for our society, which is sufficiently burdened by artificially induced daily political divisions, to have a complete rule of law.
I don't want to use platitudes, which have already been said so many times by all previous relevant ministers and other actors from the political scene: how progress requires time and commitment, how it is a long road that we must take and gradually achieve our goals. No, really, Montenegro no longer has time for such practices. On the contrary, we must achieve the goals immediately, corruption must be stopped at the root, in every court, prosecutor's office, state body - wherever it exists, and there is plenty of it and it is a cancerous wound of our society.
Strengthening the independence and professionalism of the judiciary through the full implementation of the human resources planning system in the judiciary and the State Prosecutor's Office - in the coming period, it is necessary to continue the application of legal solutions in relation to the selection and promotion of judges and state prosecutors and to ensure that in the future the challenges regarding the adoption of two-year plans for filling vacant judge positions, to announce unique competitions at the level of Montenegro, to fill vacant judge and prosecutor positions in a transparent manner based on results. The depoliticization of the judiciary must happen immediately, otherwise the price and consequences that all of us as members of society will pay will be immeasurable".
The country's progress in the EU accession process depends mostly on chapters 23 and 24. How far have we come with the amendments to the law on courts and how much will this help in meeting the temporary benchmarks for these two chapters?
I assume that this issue refers to amendments to the Law on the Judicial Council and Judges, which we are working on intensively. Amendments to this Law contribute to the fulfillment of temporary benchmarks and recommendations of Council of Europe bodies, as well as recommendations indicated by the European Commission in its reports on Montenegro. The text of the first version of this Law is almost finished. Only minor technical corrections remain, after which this Draft Law will be available to the general public, as well as to our partners in Brussels.
We also believe that he will appear before the Assembly after the summer. With it, we will specify the issues that for many years left room for different interpretations, and therefore abuses. I mean the system of evaluation and advancement in the judiciary, ethical and disciplinary responsibility, as well as the process of electing the President of the Supreme Court.
These criteria will be clearly defined, and the process of electing the President of the Supreme Court will be more accessible and transparent. Such a process will also lead to the selection of, we believe, the best candidate, whose professional references and human values will be crucial.
The analysis of the plea agreement and the preparation of amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code in that part were mentioned. What exactly will be changed given that the institute is overused?
The Ministry of Justice initiated the reform of the criminal legislation and initiated changes to the system laws in this area, and in accordance with this, it prepared the Analysis on the application of the plea agreement.
Its final draft showed that the Montenegrin model, as prescribed by law, exudes European values, not only in terms of respect for the continental European tradition of organizing criminal proceedings, but also in prescribing guarantees for the protection of defendants and victims in these proceedings. However, there are certain segments in the procedure that require additional harmonization with the current standards and practices of the European Court of Human Rights.
The institution of plea agreements is not problematic in itself. The way it is used is problematic. In this regard, both the lay and professional public were rightly dissatisfied with the mild penal policy that resulted from the application of those agreements.
How much does the acting situation in the Supreme Court and other courts slow down the promptness of the work of the courts? Did you recently return the election of the President of the Administrative Court to "refining"?
The current situation, not only in the Supreme Court but also in all other judicial institutions, is not good for the efficient functioning of the system. We have witnessed that in the previous period, the acting situation in the Judicial Council caused numerous problems that affected the work of the courts, which, I believe, will be solved in the near future with the joint efforts of this Government and the Parliament. I also hope that we will finally have a new Judicial Council that will function in full capacity. As the Minister of Justice and a member of the Judicial Council, I will personally advocate that, in accordance with the constitutional and legal powers, additional efforts are made to overcome the current situation - both in the Supreme Court and in the Judicial Council.
When deciding to put on the agenda the item on the election of the President of the Administrative Court, at the session of the Judicial Council I expressed an opinion and pointed out the violation of Article 17 of the Law on the Judicial Council and Judges, after which the Council stated that the previous procedure had not been followed in the sense that it had been followed violations of the aforementioned article of the Law. It was also noted that this is not in accordance with the previous practice of the Council itself and the legal positions of the Administrative Court taken in identical situations when deciding on specific administrative disputes.
Namely, one of the candidates for president of the court was a member of the Judicial Council at the time of applying for the advertisement, as well as during the entire procedure, which is in direct conflict with the provision of Article 17 of the Law, which stipulates that during the term of office in the Judicial Council, a member of the same from rank-and-file judge cannot be elected to a higher court or to the position of president of the court.
Therefore, in the specific case, at the time of application for the advertisement for the President of the Administrative Court, the candidate cannot be a member of the Council, but the application is conditioned by the previous submission of resignation from membership in the same. The Administrative Court itself states in one of its judgments that any other interpretation of the aforementioned norm would result in legitimate doubts about the impartial work of the Judicial Council, as a necessary aspect of the rule of law when deciding on the election of judges, i.e. the president of the court in which a member appears as a candidate Tips.
Your predecessor, Zoran Pažin, advocated that the prosecutor's office become part of the executive branch, and such a practice exists in some other countries as well. Is there discussion or thinking in that direction and is it a good solution for Montenegro?
The State Prosecutor's Office is a constitutional category, a unique and independent state body... Also, the Constitution stipulates that the independence of the State Prosecutor's Office is ensured by the Prosecutor's Council and that the Supreme State Prosecutor is elected and dismissed by the Assembly with a two-thirds majority on the proposal of the Prosecutor's Council. Your statements would require the amendment of the Constitution, which represents a complex and long-term process that is very demanding at the present time. Also, with this issue, we should take into account European standards, which increasingly indicate the need for an independent state prosecution, especially in legal systems, such as ours, in which the prosecution is responsible for leading the investigation.
Since in the past there was an informal influence of the Minister of Justice on the prosecution and the courts, isn't it better to introduce these things into the legal processes instead of your jurisdiction being only the prosecutor's office?
I hope that all formal and informal assumptions about the influence of anyone, from the executive or legislative power, on the judiciary and prosecution will disappear during the mandate of this Government. Also, I truly hope that I will be the last Minister of Justice who is a member of the Judicial Council because I believe that this constitutional provision must be changed. Respecting international standards and constitutional provisions, I believe that the only supervision that the Ministry can exercise over the judicial bodies is precisely the supervision over the judicial and prosecutorial administration.
They expect the European Commission to fully implement the suggestions of the Venice Commission when it comes to the Prosecutor's Office and to avoid politicizing the election of members of the Prosecutor's Council. Is anything being done in that direction?
I believe that the story about the politicization of the election of members of the Prosecutor's Council was exaggerated and used for daily political purposes. This, after all, is confirmed by the results of the Prosecutor's Council. Today, we have established a new composition of the Prosecutor's Council. Its functionality can be evaluated through the procedures for the appointment of the acting VDT and the chief special prosecutor, as well as through the elections of new prosecutors and their advancement.
In this regard, I would like to point out that all these decisions were made by the votes of distinguished lawyers and state prosecutors and representatives of the Ministry of Justice or the NGO sector, and that we almost never have a situation where only one vote decides on any issue. I believe that this should make us all happy and that this synergy and exchange of opinions that exists in the Prosecutor's Council should be an indicator of whether a norm has passed the test of time or not. However, we also respect the recommendations of the Venice Commission and we hope that we will translate everything related to, first of all, disciplinary and ethical responsibility into positive law as soon as possible.
Do you have any information about the proceedings being conducted against the former president of the Supreme Court, has your help been requested in any part of the investigation?
It is a very complex and important procedure that has rightly occupied the attention of the Montenegrin public. As the Minister of Justice, I cannot go into the details of the procedure itself, but leave it to the competent prosecutor's office to manage the investigation in accordance with their legal powers. What I can say is that the competent authorities will have full support to perform their work independently, impartially and in accordance with the law. In this way, each initiated procedure would have its own judicial epilogue, without going into the eventual outcome of any individual case.
Public pressure is understandable and expected, but it is time for the prosecution and the courts to start functioning at full capacity, regardless of any pressures that certain cases bring by themselves. I am sure that we have capable people of integrity in the judiciary and prosecution, starting from the chief special prosecutor down to the last employee in that chain, who are ready to bear the burden of such proceedings in a professional sense.
Should the Judicial Council order the review of the case of the former president of the Commercial Court and his overall control? Is it possible to get into a similar situation with the decisions of the Supreme Court or at least some of them?
The answer to this question is identical to the previous one, because in this case the public rightly expects information about the outcome of the proceedings, so I would repeat my views as in the case of the former president of the Supreme Court. I remind the public of the obligation to respect the constitutional principle of the presumption of innocence, until someone's responsibility is established in court proceedings.
Regarding the examination of the case and the work of the former president of the Commercial Court, I am informed that the competent prosecution has taken appropriate actions and I am sure that very soon we will receive the necessary feedback so that all other authorities, including the Judicial Council, can take any further steps from its jurisdiction.
What will you do to restore trust in the judiciary, which was damaged even before these arrests?
I will insist that all holders of judicial functions and competent authorities in the judicial system act in accordance with the Constitution and the law, that those who do not comply with the Constitution and the law in their work are held accountable, as well as that the public be informed in a timely manner about all actions of the judicial authorities.
You didn't say much about the Basic Agreement. Have you seen the version prepared by the previous government, will it be adapted to the text that has already been signed with other religious communities and when will it be resolved in order to put an end to that issue?
The Ministry of Justice works to preserve, improve and establish partnership relations with religious communities. Also, we are determined to conduct a dialogue with all interested religious communities that, in accordance with the Law on Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Legal Status of Religious Communities, are registered in the register of religious communities.
Negotiations with the SPC began in 2012. The intention of this Ministry is to further strengthen the rights and freedoms of religious communities, which are guaranteed by the Constitution of Montenegro and the Law, by concluding potential contracts.
Also, the Ministry of Justice will form a Working Team in which, in addition to members from the Ministry, there will also be representatives of other departments that will deal with issues of religious communities.
Will the acting director of UIKS, Rade Vojvodić, be proposed as the director of that institution, and is a special hospital in Risno for prisoners being considered?
Mr. Vojvodić was recently, at my suggestion, appointed acting UIKS, for a period of no longer than 6 months, and in accordance with the relevant legal provisions. I have no reason to doubt Mr. Vojvodić's quality and I expect concrete results from him, in order to strengthen this important state body and realize its full capacity in work. This is a very sensitive position in the state administration system. I expect a lot from the new management. I know that the same is expected by both persons who are serving their sentences and employees who perform very demanding jobs in extremely difficult conditions.
In the coming period, the conditions for the work of UIKS officers will be improved, both materially, i.e. financially, as well as in terms of personnel empowerment, to be one of the priorities in my work. I am sure that the new acting director will give his full contribution, and there is no reason not to continue further cooperation.
We hope for progress regarding the extradition of Marović
If there is any progress regarding the extradition of Svetozar Marović from Serbia, Dragan Kovačević is also there. How much does it harm the improvement of political relations between the two countries, which are seriously damaged, because Serbia is becoming a safe harbor for our fugitives from justice?
Certainly, this issue does not contribute to the improvement of relations between the two countries. The Ministry of Justice and other competent authorities did everything that was necessary and prescribed by domestic and international regulations.
I hope that we will soon see progress on that front as well, given that this Government is working intensively to improve cooperation with Serbia. We must all fulfill our international obligations and the region must be united in the fight against organized crime and corruption. This is a fact that we all have to accept and work together on because, if there is no cooperation between the competent authorities, a priori we will lose the fight against organized crime and corruption, which is not in the interest of any country in the region.
The defeat of society is that journalists seek the status of an official and benefited seniority
What do you think about the need to provide journalists with a benefited internship?
Of course, I will support any initiative that seeks to improve the work and, ultimately, the status of journalists in Montenegro. Although this issue is not within the competence of the Ministry of Justice, I am aware of the importance that journalists have in a transitional society such as ours. Without quality journalism, I am primarily referring to investigative journalism, Montenegro cannot achieve a full reform of society and reach the high standards we have set before ourselves. Freedom of speech, impartiality and independence in journalism are indispensable conditions for the democratization of society.
I am really disappointed that we have a situation in which journalists seek for themselves not only a benefited working experience, but also the status of an official. I believe that this represents one of the biggest defeats of our society, and it is the responsibility of all of us to correct this situation. In that part, journalists will always have my support, regardless of the function I cover. I hope that one day we will have a journalist who will not ask for the status of an official, nor for a benefited work experience, because only then will we have a society that has taken the first serious steps in the process of achieving democracy.
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