HRA: Parliament to include the election of Constitutional Court judges on the agenda tomorrow

The Human Rights Action (HRA) called on the Parliament to include in the agenda tomorrow and elect candidates for the Constitutional Court, Predrag Krstonijević and Jelena Ružičić.

HRA reminded that the Constitutional Court announced today that it has resolved all constitutional complaints that were submitted to it more than a year and a half ago.

"This is an exceptional result, considering that at the end of 2024, this court had 1.981 constitutional appeals in its work and was violating the standard of trial within a reasonable time, established in the practice of the European Court of Human Rights," the HRA believes.

They stated that the Constitutional Court now regularly publishes a list of unresolved cases in the area of ​​normative control, and has also published a list of appeals that were decided by the end of June.

The HRA reminded that the Parliament, headed by Andrija Mandić, has not yet put on the agenda a vote on the election of the two missing judges of the Constitutional Court.

"One judicial position is completely vacant, while the other position is unconstitutionally filled by Judge Desanka Lopičić, whose position should have ended two years ago, when she met the requirements for retirement," the HRA statement added.

They also stated that the Assembly, with the same chairman, dismissed Constitutional Court judge Dragana Đuranović in December 2024 for meeting the same retirement requirements.

This, they said, however, did not prevent the Parliament from unfairly and selectively retaining Judge Lopičić in office in an identical situation and even extending her mandate - contrary to the basic principle of the rule of law, that all are equal before the law.

HRA said that the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Montenegro, Johan Sattler, has in the meantime appealed at least four times for the urgent election of the missing Constitutional Court judges.

"The question of all questions arises: if the highest representatives of the government behave in this irresponsible manner while their democratic capacity is being tested in front of 27 EU member states, can it really be expected to become more responsible when the testing stops and Montenegro enters the EU?" asks the HRA.

They believe that it is high time for the Parliament to act responsibly and include on the agenda tomorrow and elect, as they stated, the undisputed candidates for the Constitutional Court, Krstonijević, who was proposed in December last year, and Judge Ružičić, who was proposed in March.