Political affiliation or affection, not expertise, was the dominant criterion by which the parliamentary majority and the opposition chose female lawyers to be judges of the Constitutional Court.
This is what the executive director of the Human Rights Action (HRA) assessed for "Vijesti". Tea Gorjanc Prelevic, commenting on the agreement the night before last that a deputy ombudsman would be elected from 26 candidates for female judges Snezana Armenko, judge of the Basic Court of Kotor Momirka Tešić and former protector of the state's property and legal interests Dragana Đuranović.
As "Vijesti" unofficially announced yesterday, Armenko was proposed by the Democratic Front (DF), Tešić by the Democrats, and Đuranović by the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), whose membership card, as she said this summer, she has had since 2017.
And the fourth vacant seat in the court, in connection with which the deadline for an agreement expires on Tuesday, will also be the subject of party trading, because the Bosniak Party (BS) insists that it belongs to the president of the Bijelo Polska Court for Misdemeanors. Alija Beganović, while the Albanian parties and the prime minister Dritan Abazovic they are looking for a basic state prosecutor from Ulcinj for that position Faruk Resulbegović.
This is how the party brokering continued, which has been filling positions in the Montenegrin judiciary for a long time. This led to people with party cards being elected to judicial positions.
According to Gorjanc Prelevic, one could sense that expertise would not be the key criterion for the agreement as soon as it was decided that the discussion about the candidates the day before yesterday would be behind closed doors, in Villa Gorica, and not publicly and in the parliament.
"I assume that the DPS's insistence on its member, Đuranović, led to a reaction, and to the fact that the third candidate, Judge Tešić, appeared as a surprise, which the Democrats probably insisted on, because she was the only one of them in the previous competition to get two votes on the Constitutional Committee", says the interviewee.
The possibility of the election of Tešić, who appeared twice for the competition for judges of the Constitutional Court, was questioned this summer by some deputies, stating that it is disputed that, due to suspicion of impartiality, she was exempted in 2020 from the case of the maritime accident in Budva, in which in July and a police officer was killed.
Because of the accident, she sentenced the minor to 120 hours of community service. In that case, as was confirmed by "Vijesti" from the Basic Court in Kotor, a final judgment has not yet been passed.
In January, Tešić won 85 out of a possible 100 points in the competition for the election of the president of that court.
Gorjanc Prelevic explains that Tešić is a surprise because, although she meets the requirements for a judge, her experience in constitutional and legal matters is not at the level of that of a judge of the Administrative Court. Jelena Ruzicic or the head of the Department for Constitutional Appeals Jadranka Novaković, who were chosen by the Constitutional Committee in the previous competition, and participated in this one as well.
"Judge Ružičić, by the way, attracted the most attention from MPs, her interview was one of the longest, she received the most questions from the largest number of MPs from different parties, she was praised by MPs from both the position and the opposition, so as expected, she was seen in the media as someone with great chances ", she adds.
When it comes to Đuranović, the second of the three candidates on whom a consensus was reached, in July, at a hearing before the Constitutional Committee based on one of the previous advertisements, she claimed that she would not resign from membership in the DPS if she were elected as a judge. , but she recently said that she would still return the membership card. According to the Constitution, judges cannot be members of political organizations.
The agreement to be elected may seem strange considering that at the end of the year, according to the Pension and Disability Insurance Act, she becomes entitled to an old-age pension. Đuranović assessed that this provision of the law, by which women retire at 64 and men at 66, is discriminatory, and she hopes that it will be repealed.
Proposals for the evaluation of the constitutionality of that act were submitted by the Judicial Council, several judges who have been terminated from office, and the Administrative Court, before which the lawsuits of retired judges are pending.
Since the Constitutional Court failed to make a decision on this in April last year, because it did not have the necessary majority, the initiatives will again be before that institution, which means that, if elected, Đuranović will also decide on them.
The lawyers interviewed by "Vijesti" object to the third candidate, Armenko, because, they say, she ran for judgeship without sufficient legal experience, although they do not challenge her knowledge. They also problematize the fact that among the candidates there are no distinguished law professors, such as those who were previously presidents of the Constitutional Court - Slobodan Blagojević, Mijat Šuković, Mladen Vukčević...
Armenko was a judge of the Basic Court in Podgorica. In her biography, it is written that she specialized in the field of human rights, and that she was the first judge from Montenegro sent to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg for training. She was also an advisor in the Office of the State Representative before that court.
Although he believes that political affiliation or affection overshadowed expertise, Gorjanc Prelevic emphasizes that MPs have the right to make such a choice at their own discretion.
"And what can we do now - such deputies, such a choice. We at HRA think that the criterion of political affiliation does not contribute to public trust in the Constitutional Court as a protector of constitutionality and human rights, and that we should think in the direction of changing the system by which judges of the Constitutional Court are elected, so that political influence is completely excluded and political trade is avoided ", she says.
A session of the Constitutional Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, where candidates for judges should be officially proposed to the parliament. If that happens then, the parliament could elect judges on February 22.
The Constitutional Court has been blocked since September 13, since he has been a judge Miodrag Ilicković retired on old age. There are currently three out of a total of seven judges in the court, so that institution does not have a quorum for work.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia Tanja Fajon, who was in Montenegro in December based on the mandate given by the high representative of the EU Joseph Borelj, she welcomed the progress achieved by the consensus on the three candidates, telling "Vijesti" that she hopes that an agreement will be reached on the fourth candidate as soon as possible.
Similar messages were sent by the ambassadors of the Quinte countries (France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain and the USA), and the spokeswoman of the European Commission. Ana Pisonero, who told the Mina agency that all political actors must support the stability and functionality of democratic institutions.
Prime Minister Abazović said that he hopes that everyone will stick to the agreement on the three candidates, and that he is "cheering" to reach an agreement on the fourth.
Assembly: Conversation in Villa "Gorica" for uninterrupted work
When asked by "Vijesti" why the joint meeting of the Collegium of the President of the Parliament and the members of the Constitutional Committee was organized in Villa "Gorica", the Assembly answered that, taking into account the importance of the meeting, i.e. the need to reach a compromise regarding the candidate, it was decided to hold it in villa, and not in the Assembly, as was the case until now.
"...It is not about any kind of hiding information from citizens and the media, which is supported by the statement of the President of the Assembly Danijela Đurović, which she gave immediately after the meeting and informed the public about its outcome. In this extremely important and particularly sensitive moment in which our country finds itself, Đurović considered it important and necessary to enable smooth work for all meeting participants", the newspaper was informed.
They claim that the parliament will remain transparent, and Đurović, as a high-ranking state official, is ready to answer any question
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"Because she believes that, as a high-ranking state official, she is obliged to do this for the sake of the citizens of Montenegro, who have the right to be informed about all significant socio-political processes in the country. In this direction, the media and the public will, as always, be informed in a timely and official manner on all important issues," the answer states.
They add that Đurović is committed to reaching a political agreement on the election of all judges, as well as solving other issues that are important for the smooth functioning of all institutions.
The Society of Professional Journalists reacted yesterday to the fact that, after an almost five-hour meeting in Villa "Gorica", the deputies left the journalists and videographers of several newsrooms outside to wait for the epilogue of their conversation.
Lekić: Do not vote along party and national lines
Demos leader and MP Miodrag Lekić told "Vijesta" that he opposes the selection of candidates along party and national lines.
"What I know is that the three candidates I voted for last time seriously presented themselves this time as well (Armenko, Ružičić and Novaković) as experts and professionals. Which means that even then, with the fourth candidate (Ilija Vukčević), they could have been elected. Now, I see, Mrs. Armenko has been proposed, and she presented herself excellently, dare I say brilliantly, and as such she really does not need any partial party approvals", he said.
When it comes to minority parties autonomously electing one judge, Lekić says that this is a continuation of the country's disintegration in the domain of constitutional and legal matters.
"What will we do with the Bosniak and Albanian candidates who said, during the public presentation, that they do not want to be elected according to the minority criteria, and one of them (Amer Šukuruca) said that he does not feel like a minority", he stated, adding that it would be choose judges well, but that "this phase confirms deep institutional-value disturbances in the state".
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