The state violates the human right to an effective legal remedy for the protection of voting rights to all those who have already submitted or will submit complaints about the electoral process to the Constitutional Court, because that court will not be able to decide on these complaints either within the prescribed time limits or until further notice.
This is stated in the press release by the NGO Action for Human Rights (HRA).
"The Constitutional Court cannot decide on election appeals, because it does not have a quorum to decide, due to the fact that the members of the Parliament of Montenegro have not elected a single judge for more than two years, who would enable the continuation of the work of that court," the announcement reads.
As they say, the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court for the protection of voting rights is guaranteed by the Constitution of Montenegro and the Law on the Constitutional Court and the Law on the Election of Councilors and Deputies, and international human rights treaties guarantee the right to free elections and an effective legal remedy for the protection of that right. .
"Also, the final results of the elections in the municipalities in relation to whose election processes constitutional appeals have been submitted will not be able to be announced until the Constitutional Court has decided on those appeals. So far, appeals have been submitted to the Constitutional Court about the election processes in the municipalities of Danilovgrad and Plav, and they will probably be submitted in relation to Žabljak, given that the State Election Commission (SEC) has already rejected two objections to the decisions of the Municipal Election Commission (MEC) in Žabljak," the statement added.
HRA also states that when the SEC decides on the other objections filed against the decision of the MEC in Podgorica, Zeta, Kolašin and Pljevlja, it will be known whether constitutional appeals will be filed in relation to those local elections as well.
"We are not aware that any other European country has decided to conduct elections without a competent court for the protection of voting rights. Conducting parliamentary and presidential elections without the Constitutional Court would be a new scandal that would show disrespect for rights," they said in the statement.
According to the information that Action for Human Rights received from the Constitutional Court, two appeals have been submitted to that court so far, even before the local elections held on Sunday, in relation to the election procedures in the municipalities of Danilovgrad and Plav.
"The election results will not be able to be announced in those two municipalities, and in some others, before the Constitutional Court decides on all the appeals in relation to the local elections that will be submitted to it (Article 98 of the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament). how many new election appeals will be sent to the dysfunctional Constitutional Court, and in relation to which municipalities, will be known after the State Election Commission (SEC) decides on the objections submitted to the decisions of the Municipal Election Commissions (MEC) in Podgorica, Zeta, Kolašin in the coming days , Žabljak and Pljevlja (Art. 110 of the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament). All those whose objections are dismissed or rejected by the SEC have the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court," HRA said.
According to the available information that the HRA has, as stated, 25 objections were submitted to the Municipal Election Commissions, of which those commissions rejected 22 objections, 2 were accepted completely, and one partially. The SEC accepted one objection against the decision of the MEC Budva, and rejected two objections against the decision of the MEC in Žabljak.
"According to the law, the Constitutional Court is obliged to act on appeals related to the election within a short period of time (within 24 hours it submits it to the competent election commission for a statement, within 48 hours of receiving the statement it must decide on the appeal, Article 100-101 of the Law on Constitutional However, the court will certainly violate these deadlines and will not act on appeals until further notice, because it does not have a quorum to decide. The legitimacy of the elections in the municipalities of Danilovgrad and Plav, in relation to whose election processes appeals were filed, was threatened even before election day. It is not possible to know whether some part of the election procedure, based on the two appeals filed, should have been annulled even before the election, because the Constitutional Court could not decide on it (see Article 102 of the Law on the Constitutional Court)," the announcement reads.
They add that earlier a proposal was submitted to the Constitutional Court for the evaluation of the constitutionality of the law establishing Zeta as a new electoral unit, which also had to be decided, so that those elections would not be in doubt.
"Appeals regarding the amendments to the Law on Local Self-Government were also submitted to the Constitutional Court, which were also not decided, but probably became irrelevant because the Constitutional Court in the meantime decided that the law was unconstitutional. The Constitutional Court, when deciding on an appeal, can decide to annul the election procedure or one part of it, if he decides that the irregularity was such that it could affect the results of the election (Art. 102 Law on the Constitutional Court). This means that every well-founded constitutional appeal does not necessarily lead to the annulment of the election, but again , only the Constitutional Court and no one else can decide on that. Therefore, the final announcement of the election results depends on the decision of that court," they state.
They estimate that the Constitutional Court could become functional only in a month.
"If 49 deputies in the second round of voting in the Parliament of Montenegro decided to elect at least one judge. However, judging by the position of the bloc of parties around the Democratic Party of Socialists, which refused to vote for any candidate in the first round, until the election of a new judge then it will not come. What remains is the announcement of a new procedure for the election of judges of the Constitutional Court, which will take several months, provided that the persons whose candidacies would be determined by the competent committee apply at all, and that they receive a qualified majority in the first or second round of voting. Judging by the method to which MPs of all parties treated the candidates, writing them off without explanation and a chance to answer accusations of incompetence or impartiality, it is uncertain whether anyone will want to run for any position on which the MPs have to decide," they announced from HRA.
This means, say the HRA, that the announcement of the final results of the local elections in some municipalities could drag on indefinitely.
"Applicants to the Constitutional Court can immediately appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, but even that court, most likely, would not be able to decide on these petitions before the Constitutional Court resumes its work. On the other hand, the organization and implementation of parliamentary and presidential elections without the Constitutional Court to decide on election appeals, would be a new scandal, which would show that the state is not capable of the rule of law," the announcement concludes.
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