Popović: The Constitutional Court could realistically be completed only at the end of November

The Constitutional Court could realistically be completed only at the end of November, the deputy estimated yesterday Andrija Popović (Liberal Party) at the session of the Constitutional Committee of the Assembly.

He made such an assessment when asking a question to a candidate for judge of the Constitutional Court Snežani Armenko, because that committee started consultative hearings of 19 candidates for four seats in that court.

Yesterday, the Constitutional Court instance was left without a quorum for work, because the judges Miodrag Ilicković automatically ceased to function as he became eligible for old-age pension. Thus, of the seven judges, as many as that court has by law, only three remain who cannot decide because decisions require four votes.

Armenko is a deputy ombudsman who covers the field of justice, she was a judge of the Basic Court, an adviser in the office of the state representative before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, she worked at the European Court as a judge assigned to work.

Answering questions from MPs, she said yesterday that the US itself, through lack of transparency, contributed to the current public perception of its work.

"The reasoning behind the decision is a guarantor of the legal security of the rule of law and public trust. The general public is not empowered enough," she said, among other things.

She said that when preparing the legal collection, she also had a problem with how to reach some judgments, and that the court secretary and expert advisors helped her in this.

"Publishing the decision raises public confidence," she said, stating that in this way the court explains its arguments and positions.

Armenko also gave an affirmative answer to Andrija Popović's question whether she supports the Euro-Atlantic integration of Montenegro. Popović also asked whether the local elections on October 23 could even be held considering the current situation in the US.

On that occasion, the MP noted that if the Constitutional Committee were to finish hearing the candidates in October, it is unlikely that the Assembly will have a three-fifths majority of 54 MPs to elect them. He pointed out that the earliest the second time can be voted in a month and that, as he said, 49 votes could be reached only at the end of November.

Judges of the United States are elected by a two-thirds majority, that is, by a two-thirds majority, which should ensure the independence of the judiciary from the political influence of the simple parliamentary majority.

Snezana Armenko expressed her hope that the deputies will succeed, as she said, in agreeing on candidates and that she believes that the local elections will be conducted in accordance with the law and the Constitution.

She confirmed that the US remained dysfunctional and that the remaining three judges can only decide on constitutional appeals, when they work in chambers. That court in three-member panels can make decisions if all the judges agree, and if that is not the case, then the decision is made at the plenary session by the majority of the total number of judges - that is, with four votes.

Armenko said that the expectation that decisions are made in three-member panels could in some way call into question the free conviction of judges because "judges will be under pressure to have to decide so that the constitutional appeal does not lose its effectiveness."

The deputy ombudsman could not say what she thought about the constitutionality of the changes to the law that gave Zeta the status of a municipality, reminding that she could be in a conflict of interest if elected because she commented on the law. She still said that ...

"Legal norms should not be compared to the interests of politics, but of society and law," she said.

Yesterday, the president of the Court for Misdemeanors in Bijelo Polje was heard Alija Beganović, who also said that the work of the Constitutional Court should be improved and a department should be formed, which will speed up the processing of complaints and initiatives of citizens - submitted to that court.

The Constitutional Committee will hear the candidates today Tatjana Bulatović i Ilija Vukčević.