The full composition of the Constitutional Court is of essential importance for the process of Montenegro's accession to the European Union (EU), it was stated at a meeting between the president and judges of that court and European Commissioner for Justice Michael McGrath.
Constitutional Court President Snežana Armenko said that McGrath's arrival in Montenegro represents a strong confirmation of the shared commitment and firm determination for the country to achieve its strategic goal - full membership in the EU.
According to a statement from the Constitutional Court, Armenko informed McGrath that the court she heads currently has fewer than two thousand cases pending, although it has nine jurisdictions prescribed by the Constitution.
"Thanks to good organization, the efforts of the professional service and judges, the Constitutional Court does not have a single constitutional complaint in its work that is older than two years, which prevents the European Court of Human Rights from determining violations due to the length of the proceedings," said Armenko.
She stated that, in order to resolve the backlog of cases in the area of normative matters, a Plan and Program for resolving cases was adopted for the first time, with defined deadlines, which will resolve cases quarterly by year of arrival.
McGrath, as announced, welcomed the results achieved by the Constitutional Court in terms of the number of resolved cases and the reduction in the length of proceedings before the court, when it comes to constitutional appeals.
"McGrath and the judges agreed that in the coming period it is necessary to strengthen the Court in terms of its complete independence and autonomy," the statement said.
As stated, the meeting discussed respecting and implementing the decisions of the Constitutional Court, which is of crucial importance for the rule of law in the EU candidate country.
The Constitutional Court delegation emphasized at the meeting that, in addition to the efficiency and quality of decisions, in the past five months, the court has achieved concrete and measurable results in terms of transparency of work, which is reflected in daily communication with the media and bringing decisions closer to citizens, as well as the fact that for the first time a list of unresolved cases in the field of norms has been published, which will be updated quarterly.
The meeting was attended by judges Desanka Lopičić, Momirka Tešić, Faruk Resulbegović, Jovan Jovanović, and Nikola Mugoša, the Secretary General of the Court Biljana Damjanović, as well as members of the European Commission delegation.
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