The Parliamentary Constitutional Committee has not published a new advertisement for the election of a judge of the Constitutional Court for almost three months, because the parties of the parliamentary majority are still negotiating who will get the position of president of that parliamentary body.
"Vijesti" sources from the parliamentary majority said that the Bosniak Party (BS), which is now part of the government, should go to the position of president of a committee, probably the Constitutional Committee. The talks, as they said, are still ongoing, which was confirmed by the head of the Club of Bosniak Party Deputies Amer Smailovic.
"The parliamentary majority is still conducting discussions about seats in the committees, according to the newly created situation. "Negotiations are ongoing, we haven't completed the entire conversation process yet, but I'm optimistic that it will happen in the next period," said Smailović to "Vijesta".
BS came to power in July, after the reconstruction of the Government.
Negotiations on seats in parliamentary committees stalled the election of judges of the Constitutional Court, which currently has six judges out of the prescribed seven.
At the session on July 30, the Constitutional Committee did not support any candidate who should replace him as a judge of the Constitutional Court. Milorad Gogić who retired at the end of May. None of the six registered candidates, in the procedure that lasted since February, received the necessary majority for the Constitutional Committee to propose him to the Assembly, which elects the judges of the Constitutional Court.
When voting for candidates Ali Beganović, Zoran Vukićević i Muhamed Đokaj, eight MPs abstained, and there were no votes for or against. For the candidate Nerma Dobardžić five deputies voted, while seven abstained. Jovan Kojičić he received three votes of support, while five deputies abstained. For Sanju Maslenjak three deputies voted, one was against, and seven abstained.
The then president of the Constitutional Committee Simonida Kordić she said after the session that the procedure will be repeated, that is, the competition will be announced again. After that, she assumed the position of Minister of Tourism in the reconstructed Government, but her successor was not appointed.
Executive Director of Human Rights Action (HRA) Tea Gorjanc Prelevic she said that the parties of the ruling coalition have pledged to actively work towards the accession of Montenegro to the EU, "and not to sabotage that membership by failing to fill the Constitutional Court, as well as the Judicial Council, the Prosecutor's Council, etc., which are all their obligations in to the Assembly''.
"It was already scandalous the failure of the members of the Constitutional Committee not to support at least one of the interested candidates for the post of judge of the Constitutional Court who met all the conditions, and this irresponsible behavior is now continuing by delaying the announcement of a new competition," said Gorjanc Prelevic. "News".
She said that she expects the Constitutional Court to change the practice of arbitrary interpretation of the Constitution and laws in relation to the time for the termination of office of Constitutional Court judges.
He reminds that the majority of judges in the Constitutional Court, which is made up of those who are nearing the end of their term of office, insisted on the interpretation that their term of office should end later, based on the Labor Law, when the mandatory condition for termination of employment occurs, and not when they "fulfill conditions for old-age pension" when the Constitution says that their function must cease.
"The conditions for exercising the right to an old-age pension are prescribed by the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance, not by the Labor Law. Also, judges are appointed to the position, in accordance with the Constitution, and do not conclude an employment contract for which termination of the employment relationship is valid, as previously explained by a renowned expert in labor law in the region, professor and retired judge of the Supreme Court of Serbia. Zoran IvoševićGorjanc Prelevic said.
The Constitution stipulates that a judge's office ends when he meets the conditions for retirement. The majority position in the Constitutional Court is that in that case they apply the Labor Law, and not the Law on Pension Disability Insurance (PIO), according to which "the insured acquires the right to an old-age pension when he reaches the age of 65 and has at least 15 years of insurance experience and 40 years of experience insurance and 61 years of life" (Article 17 paragraph 1 and 2). The Law on PIO applies to judges of regular courts.
"Which judges meet the conditions for termination of office this year?"
Action for Human Rights requested information from the Constitutional Court on the notifications that, in accordance with the obligation from the Law on the Constitutional Court, it delivered to the proponents, the Parliament of Montenegro and/or the President of the State, about which of the judges of that court in the next six months fulfills conditions for termination of office.
"Based on those notifications, the proponents then announce a competition for the selection of judges. As it was previously announced from that court, in addition to Judge Gogić, whose termination of office was noted earlier, two judges of the Constitutional Court have already met the conditions for termination of office based on the PIO Act, while the third judge will meet the conditions by the end of the year, which the Assembly would had to keep in mind", said Gorjanc Prelevic.
From the biographies of the judges, which were published on the website of the Constitutional Court, it can be seen that, according to the Law on PIO, at the end of May, Judge Budimir Šćepanović became eligible for retirement because he turned 65 at the time. Judge Dragana Đuranović turns 65 in December, and will soon have 40 years of service. Judge Desanka Lopičić also qualified for retirement because she has 40 years of service and is 63 years old.
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