Candidate for Constitutional Court judge Milva Prelević said that she was once a member of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), but that she has not been in any party for the last ten years, and that she is apolitical.
She said this at a session of the Constitutional Committee, responding to a question from committee president Jelena Božović.
Asked to comment on the events at the Constitutional Committee, she said that the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance applies to everyone, including judges.
"Regarding the Constitutional Committee's statement, I truly believe that you have stated the information you had. I believe that the committee had no choice but to state that fact. I do not see a major problem with that because the facts are as they are. I truly believe that perhaps the regulations in that part should be amended to prevent these truly unwanted scenes from occurring. The question simply arises - why did the Constitutional Court not send the Constitutional Committee information when the conditions for the judge's retirement according to the legal procedure had already been met," said Prelević.
She said that she passed the bar exam, the occupational safety exam, and also completed a master's degree in customs and taxation.
"I began my legal career at the Court of Misdemeanors, where I completed a three-year internship, and after that, in 2003, I started working at the Customs Administration, where I still work today. Today, I am a customs inspector, a representative of the Customs Administration - the Podgorica Customs House before the competent court. During my work experience, I was also an authorized official for misdemeanor proceedings within the commission that decided in the first instance in the area of customs violations, and I was also an authorized person for administrative proceedings in the area of excise duty refunds," she pointed out.
She added that she also held a number of management positions - head of the public procurement and free access to information service, and that she was the assistant chief at the customs office of the Podgorica Terminal.
"I have always been attracted to law as a science. Some of my proposals have been implemented into final normative texts," she said.
She also said that she is an active participant in the "Corruption is not an option" campaign, and that as part of it, they visited elementary schools with the aim of educating citizens more broadly.
Europe Now Movement MP Darko Dragović noted that she said that the decisions of the Human Rights Protector should be legally binding, and asked her whether this interference was within the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court, and whether she had any experience with the decisions of that court.
Prelević responded that making the Ombudsman's decisions binding would lead to his greater proactivity.
"I believe that there must be an institute that monitors the work of state bodies. Perhaps there should be an amendment or correction of regulations to avoid interference with jurisdiction with the Constitutional Court. The bottom line is that the Ombudsman must have greater powers," she said.
She added that she had no experience with the Constitutional Court, but that she had with other courts.
Božović said that the Constitutional Committee session will continue on Monday, when they will hear two more candidates.
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