GA: The Constitutional Court should be determined by the initiative to evaluate the legality and constitutionality of the Regulation on the Representative of Montenegro before the ECtHR

The non-governmental organization Civil Alliance (GA) called on the Constitutional Court to urgently decide on the submitted initiative to initiate an assessment of the legality and constitutionality of the Regulation on Amendments to the Regulation on the Representative of Montenegro before the European Court of Human Rights.

"Taking into account the legal arguments that call into question the constitutionality of the Regulation on Amendments to the Regulation on the Representative of Montenegro before the European Court of Human Rights, we call on the Constitutional Court of Montenegro to urgently decide on the submitted initiative to initiate an assessment of the legality and constitutionality of the aforementioned Regulation, which was submitted by the current representative of Montenegro before the European Court of Human Rights (Valentina Pavličić). Also, we use the opportunity to call on the Government of Montenegro to suspend the application of the disputed Regulation until the decision of the Constitutional Court is made," the GA said on its Facebook profile.

The GA added that the damage that could be caused by the late reaction of the Constitutional Court, if the initiated initiative is taken positively, could be irreversible and would definitely cause consequences for the budget and reputation of Montenegro.

"The Constitutional Court would have to appreciate the fact that the mentioned initiative must have priority when deciding and that it must be considered urgently, especially bearing in mind the consequences that may arise. We believe that after the great strides made in the area of ​​the rule of law, we should not now make mistakes that they can undo everything that was well done in the previous period and move us away from the EU," the GA said.

The current representative of Montenegro before the court in Strasbourg, Valentina Pavličić, previously requested an evaluation of the constitutionality of the Regulation by which the Government limited the mandate of the representative to two terms of four years, thereby preventing her re-appointment to that position.

On January 12, lawyer Mitar Šušić submitted to the Constitutional Court an initiative to initiate proceedings for the evaluation of the constitutionality and legality of Article 4 of the amended Regulation on the representative of Montenegro before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) with a proposal for the adoption of a temporary measure that would suspend all actions taken.

On January 11, the Ministry of Justice announced a call for applications for candidates for representative and deputy representative of Montenegro before the European Court of Human Rights, after the Government adopted an amendment to the Regulation at the end of December last year, which introduced a competition for the selection of representatives, and his mandate was limited to maximum twice every four years.

This means that the current representative Valentina Pavličić will perform this duty until a new representative of Montenegro is elected before the court in Strasbourg in the process of the newly introduced public call. Pavličić's mandate began with the decision of the Government on September 23, 2015.