The Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) has opened an investigation into suspicions of the illegal election of Constitutional Court judge Desanka Lopičić as the presiding judge of that court, it was confirmed by "News" in SDT.
They thus acted on the criminal report of the Institute for the Rule of Law, which stated that "a group of NN judges of the Constitutional Court elected judge Desanka Lopičić to the non-existent position of presiding judge with the powers of the president of the Constitutional Court".
"The Constitution of Montenegro, the Law on the Constitutional Court and the Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court do not recognize the function of "presiding judge", and there is a suspicion that a group of judges, by exceeding the limits of their official powers, committed the criminal offense of abuse of official position," the application states.
They called on the chief special state prosecutor Milivoj Katnić to obtain the minutes from the session of the Constitutional Court where Lopičić was elected and listen to all the judges, in order to establish the decisive facts.
According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", the investigation was initiated by special prosecutor Veljko Rutović, who has already contacted the US:
"...I am informing you that in connection with the criminal complaint filed by the Institute for the Rule of Law regarding the election of a judge of the Constitutional Court as the chairperson of that court, a case has been formed in the Special State Prosecutor's Office, which is in the investigation phase, and the submission of the necessary documentation has been requested in order to make a decision in the case ," was stated in the response of SDT spokeswoman, special prosecutor Sanja Jovićević.
After the term of office of US President Dragoljub Drašković expired, the US did not have the necessary majority to elect his successor, so Lopičić was elected contrary to the Constitution, the Law on the US and the Rules of Procedure of that court.
Five non-governmental organizations previously protested in an open letter to US judges due to, as they stated, the establishment of the non-existent function of "presiding judge".
They drew attention to the fact that the law stipulates that in the event of the termination of the office of the president, he is replaced by the deputy or the oldest among the judges - which Lopičić is not.
They remind that the US ignored the constitutional provision that prohibits the same person from holding the office of president twice, because Lopičić was already that. With the decision on the election, she received the powers of the president even now.
NGOs also state that the decision on the election of Lopičić is unconstitutional in that she has been preparing the elections for almost a year, and that she refers to practice instead of facts.
"We especially appeal to you, Mr. (Hamdija) Šarkinović to reconsider the signature below the selection decision...," states the letter, which was signed by the directors of MANS, HRA, the Institute for the Rule of Law, the Institute of Alternatives, CEGES and the European Association for Law and Finance.
IVP: The reasoning behind the choice will remain a lasting shame
"Anyone who would compare the text of the law and the explanation for the election of Judge Lopičić, which is signed by the oldest judge Hamdija Šarkinović, who presided over the election session, would be clear that law no longer resides in the Constitutional Court. The justification for the election of Judge Lopičić as the presiding judge with the powers of the court president will remain a permanent shame for that institution, which should be a bastion of law and protector of the Constitution of Montenegro," states the IVP.
In the decision on the election of Lopičić published on the US website, it is written that the legal rules for the election of a judge who replaces the president are valid only until "the organization and conduct of elections for a new president, but not for the period after those elections have been conducted, and the new president has not been elected." .
Lopičić was elected with four votes, out of a total of seven judges in the court, after two judges Budimir Šćepanović and Mevlida Muratović did not receive support for the president of the court. Šćepanović had two votes and Muratović one.
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