The EC report is a realistic picture of the situation

The report of the European Commission is a realistic picture of the situation in the area of ​​the rule of law, without the progress of which Montenegro will not be able to move forward, the key criticisms are repeated, especially that the Montenegrin judiciary is "sensitive to political influence", according to "Vijesti" interlocutors.

The EC stated in the report that Montenegro must eliminate shortcomings in the areas of freedom of expression and the media, the fight against corruption and organized crime, and to speed up and deepen reforms in the area of ​​the judiciary, especially when it comes to its independence, professionalism and responsibility, in order to made further steps on the way to the EU.

These are mostly suggestions that have been repeated for years in EC documents.

Former Chapter 23 and 24 negotiating team member, attorney Marijana Laković Drašković He told "Vijesti" that the Parliament and the Government share responsibility for the fact that the implementation of key judicial reforms is still at a standstill.

"The report is actually a realistic picture of the situation when it comes to the area of ​​the rule of law, without the progress of which Montenegro will not be able to move forward, despite the fact that the government is obliged to work in the interests of citizens, of whom, according to a survey from June, 75 percent declared that they wanted the entry of Montenegro Up in the EU," she said.

She added that when it comes to the selection of key holders of judicial functions (the acting state of the Supreme State Prosecutor for several years, the lack of a quorum in the Constitutional Court, three members who unconstitutionally sit in the Judicial Council, the Acting President of the Supreme Court), the Assembly has the greatest responsibility, because in the previous period, citizens' representatives mainly dealt with narrow-party interests and the interests of other countries.

"Among them there are constant tensions, as well as a lack of will to solve key issues of interest to our country, which is recognized in this report. Due to their irresponsibility towards the citizens and the assumed obligations from the European agenda, Montenegro has fallen into a situation where the last two reports are the worst since the beginning of the negotiations between Montenegro and the EU".

Legal adviser at the NGO Action for Human Rights (HRA) Marija Vesković for "Vijesti" he says that although the fact that this year a large number of judges were elected in the promotion process, and in particular that as many as 11 vacant positions in the Supreme Court, which last year represented an obstacle for the election of the president of that court, were filled, this again did not lead to the election of the President of the Supreme Court.

He reminds that the position has been vacant for a year and ten months.

"And not only that, a new advertisement has not been announced since the last unsuccessful vote before the General Session, which was on March 17, 2022, without a valid reason".

There are no holders of judicial positions yet

Judge of the Supreme Court Vesna Vuckovic, by the decision of the Judicial Council, was appointed in September 2021 as acting (acting) President of the Supreme Court. She was elected to that position instead of the long-time president Vesne Medenica, who spent almost three terms there and resigned after pressure from the public and international partners. She was arrested on April 17 of that year on suspicion of having committed the crime of illegal influence as a member of a criminal organization...

Marija Vesković says that the post of president of the Basic Court in Kotor, the post of president of the Administrative Court (almost a year and two months) and the post of president of the Commercial Court of Montenegro (almost three months) have been vacant for the same amount of time, and after the arrest Blaž Jovanić due to suspicion of creating a criminal organization and abuse of official position.

He reminds that these days one can often hear either transferring or not accepting the responsibility of politicians for the state of the judiciary, or even taking credit for some small developments that divert attention from major problems that block key reforms in the judiciary.

"Nevertheless, we should not lose sight of the fact that, although some of the vacant judges' and prosecutor's positions have been filled, the election of those holding judicial positions, which depends on the deputies, has not yet been completed."

He states that, excluding four distinguished lawyers in the Prosecutor's Council and one in the Judicial Council, the last time the deputies managed to reach an agreement on key persons in the judiciary was more than eight years ago, on October 7, 2014, when they elected Ivica Stanković for VDT in full term, with a three-fifths majority, with the votes of DPS and SNP. He remained in office for another two years, until his retirement, and after him, two people held the position of acting.

"Then, on July 2, 2014, when they elected four members of the Judicial Council from among distinguished lawyers, three of whom have been members of the Judicial Council for nine years. Although the EC expects that new distinguished lawyers will be elected by the end of this year, there is little chance that this could happen".

As she added, in the event that the parliamentary committee is effective (which has not been the case so far), a new public advertisement could be published on November 20 at the earliest, the deadline for candidates' applications would be December 5, and the list of registered candidates would, according to the law had to be published on the Assembly's website for at least ten days, which means that the Board could only start interviews in mid-December.

"Given that the proposal for voting on candidates must be sent to the Assembly 15 days before the session, this would mean that interviews and voting in the assembly committee would have to be completed in the middle of December, in one day, which is only a theoretical possibility. Also, bearing in mind how the previous election went, when even a former judge of the European Court of Human Rights was not elected, it is possible that this time there will be no interest from adequate candidates," said Marija Vesković.

Lack of knowledge in the accession process

Marijana Laković Drašković says that when it comes to the reform of public administration, the Report clearly indicates that the implementation of the Law on Civil Servants with the amendments from 2021 has led to a situation where knowledge is lacking in the recruitment process.

"On the other hand, reading the Report, it is more than clear that this and the previous government did not prioritize the integration process, due to the very fact that neither this year nor the previous one proposed a single law that was planned by the EU Accession Program of Montenegro (PPCG) in terms of both the organization and the functioning of the judiciary. Although the Government was 'full of results' in the fight against corruption, they did not propose the Law on the Origin of Property to the Assembly, despite the fact that they promised it to the citizens during the pre-election campaign.

He reminds that the Report stated limited progress in the fight against corruption, primarily due to the results in the prevention of corruption.

"The recommendations of the Venice Commission have not yet been implemented when it comes to the Law on the State Prosecutor's Office, nor the recommendations of the Group of Countries for the Fight against Corruption (GREKO), when it comes to the aforementioned law, nor the Law on the Judicial Council and Judges. All of the above is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, which had until two years ago the implementation of obligations from the PPCG, and from year to year 100 percent, which causes concern among us who know the process well and among our European partners due to the fact that the priorities of that key ministry were not Montenegro's membership in the EU, but some others, known to them, such as the Law on Freedom of Religion, as well as the Basic Treaty, which caused an additional increase in tensions and deepened polarization in our society".

In the Report, it was stated that the Plan for the rationalization of the judicial network has not yet been adopted, although, as she added, the Analysis for the needs of rationalization was prepared in 2020, and the information system of the judiciary has not been consistently implemented either.

Marija Vesković reminds that the key criticisms in the reports are repeated year after year, and especially that the Montenegrin judiciary is "sensitive to political influence".

"Ever since 2015, the EC has repeated identical criticisms regarding the unjustified decisions of the Judicial and Prosecutorial Councils, with additional observations that the councils lack proactivity and consistency in determining the responsibilities of judges and prosecutors. As of 2018, identical criticisms are still being repeated that the system for detecting violations of integrity rules should be made more effective by ensuring that all cases where there is a basis for disciplinary responsibility are followed up in an appropriate manner. Since 2015, the EC has been repeating that the Judicial Information System (JIS) has security flaws and is not reliable, and since 2018, the judicial system of Montenegro still does not contain data on the total duration of court proceedings".

(Un)realistic selection of judges of the Constitutional Court until the election

When asked if she expects the judges of the Constitutional Court to be elected, Marija Vesković replied that that court is already unable to decide on election appeals, of which, according to available information, there are at least three, which calls into question the legitimacy of the election result.

"Immediately before the elections, an attempt will be made to elect judges, on October 21 to be exact. However, the question is how realistic it is to reach 54 votes, bearing in mind that the DPS representatives in the Constitutional Committee, who have 30 votes in the Assembly, did not vote for any of the proposed candidates".

He believes that at least one judge should be elected, otherwise the elections will not be legitimate.

"Secondly, the Constitutional Court has a large backlog, which with only four judges will not be able to ensure that the decision on constitutional appeals is effective, i.e. faster than four years, which the European Court in the case of Sinistaj v. Montenegro said was excessive and not effective . Deputies would have to overcome party interests and vote for the proposed candidates unless they objectively show some reason for not electing them, which has not been presented to the public so far".

He reminds that the Constitutional Court already has 2.994 cases in its work, of which 2.724 are constitutional appeals (of which as many as 10 from 2017) and at least three election appeals, on which, according to the Law on the Constitutional Court, a decision must be made within 48 hours from on the day of the election commission's statement on the appeal.

"The question is how long it will take for that court to resolve all those backlogged cases, even in the best case - to get all four new judges in seven days".

Bajramspahić: The report is slightly better than last year's

Citizen activist Dina Bajramspahić assessed that the improved rating in chapter 30 - External relations best shows how Montenegro has no problems that would require it to devote special attention to the Open Balkans.

She said that the EC Report is slightly better than last year's and that it is known exactly in which parts, namely chapters 25, 30, and 31.

"If there had been no progress in these three chapters, the overall grade would have been the same as last year," Mina told the agency.

She stated that, when it comes to Chapters 30 and 31, which relate to foreign affairs, Montenegrin's unequivocal support for Ukraine and the introduction of sanctions against Russia were rewarded.