The salaries of the judges of basic courts should not be reduced by eight percent, as foreseen by the Government's measures, because they bear the greatest burden, said the President of the Supreme Court, Vesna Medenica.
She said that the European Charter on Judges sees a high and stable salary as a guarantor of the protection of judges from any form of corruption. Furthermore, judges' salaries must not be reduced through the measures of the Government and its fiscal policy, for the sake of sustainability and fiscal consolidation of the budget.
Medenica said that she was not aware of the income of other budget beneficiaries, especially civil servants and the administration, and "raised" her voice against the Government's measures due to the reduced salaries of judges in the courts of higher instances, including the Supreme Court.
"But I did problematize the reduced salaries of the judges of the basic courts, because with a reduction of eight percent, they will receive much less than under the old law. That category of judges, who bear the greatest burden, should be separated from the Government's measures," said Medenica in an interview with the Mina agency.
She assessed that every day there is a permanent politicization of the procedure in connection with the event surrounding the creation of a criminal organization for the purpose of attempted terrorist activity.
"If that is the case, then it is normal to conclude that everything that happens in the process will have the attention of the public, and considering the various comments regarding the setting of the whole event, there is a real danger of a kind of pressure on the further course of court procedures, if they come to that. All of this could influence the judge's decision to the extent that an indictment is brought, because then he sees himself as the key to everything," Medenica believes.
She said that the judges will make a court decision in the eventual process, and what kind of reflection it will have on everything that will happen remains to be seen.
"What has been the practice so far is that such an interesting trial can be moved from the courtroom to the street, which I want to prevent and enable citizens to be in the courtroom. I will make sure that the trial regarding those accusations, if they occur, will be broadcast directly," she said.
Medenica said that the position of the cameras in the courtroom would make it impossible to maintain procedural discipline and protect all parties in the proceedings because they do not have adequate courtrooms and security that could deal with all those challenges.
"The content of the court proceedings should be made public, in order to facilitate the acceptance of the court decision. If all citizens are familiar with the way the evidence is presented and its content, then the lay public will be able to know the reason for the court decision," said Medenica.
She explained that the reasons will be made public and that, in addition, she will demand from the judge that, if the proceedings and accusations are continued, that the decisions have a special summary.
"A summary for the general public with language that is not legal but easily understandable in order to know what reasons led the judge to make such a decision," said Medenica.
She said that every citizen can feel that there is obvious public pressure on judges, but that, as she said, it is in the deep intimacy of every judge as a professional.
Medenica said that if the case is before the second-instance court for decision, it should not be allowed to "write and draw the future decision for days" before the council session.
Medenica said that in the north, the basic court in Rožaje leads in terms of quality and efficiency.
"Judges have a very hard time dealing with that. First of all, they think not about the safety of their job, because he will make a legal and fair decision, but about the safety of their children and family," said Medenica.
She said that judges have so far resisted all pressures, but it happens that they ask for exemptions in certain cases.
"Part of the parties who are dissatisfied know how to file a criminal complaint against the judge, which is the immediate reason for his disqualification in further proceedings," stated Medenica.
She stated that now, in general, she would not be able to say how 2016 was as a judge's year compared to last year, because most cases are completed in December.
She said that this year, compared to the previous year, the amount of case inflow is the same, and that the inflow of civil and new lawsuits is greater.
"Such as lawsuits by employees that the employer did not allow workers to use a half-hour break for daily rest and other lawsuits. In general, it is at the level of 150 to 160 thousand cases that are in Montenegrin courts every year," said Medenica.
She explained that the efficiency of each court is measured by the percentage of completed cases in relation to the inflow, stating that more than 90% of the total inflow should be completed this year, i.e. up to 75% of all pending cases, which is at the level of last year. .
Medenica said that in the north, the basic court in Rožaje leads in terms of quality and efficiency.
"It is a court with a set of judges, headed by the president, who is an exemplary example of how every basic court in Montenegro should function, to apply the law and maintain procedural discipline and communicate with the parties," stated Medenica.
According to her, a good example is the High Court and Bijelo Polje, which completes all cases.
Speaking about the institute of guilty pleas, Medenica said that the application of that institute will be analyzed due to the evaluation of the fairness and legality of each accepted agreement.
"This year, the Podgorica High Court has achieved significant results in resolving civil cases in the second instance. More than eight thousand civil cases are received, which must be concluded before the higher court through the second instance procedure. By the end of the month, about seven thousand have been completed," said Medenica. .
She said that some courts complete from 95 percent to more than 120 percent of cases from the influx, such as the Basic Court in Ulcinj, the Appellate Court, the Administrative Court, the Supreme Court.
Medenica said that the professional consolidation of the Commercial Court should also be praised, because as a specialized court, it is significant because complex legal relations of large corporations are concluded before it, foreign investments are protected, certain contractual obligations are resolved, unpaid bills, bankruptcies are settled before it.
"That court contributed to the legal definition of the status of certain large economic giants through bankruptcy proceedings. The Commercial Court achieved significant results and raised the quality of the Montenegrin judiciary," she said.
Medenica said that the influx of cases in the Basic Court in Podgorica is slightly higher compared to last year, because it is the largest court in the country. "As far as guilt is concerned, there is a significant drop because the prosecutor took over part of the investigation".
"The Supreme Court has been up-to-date for years and is one of the leaders in relation to all the courts in the surrounding area. Let's finish more than 95 percent of all cases that are in the works, and let's finish the rest of the cases by the end of March and never enter the second quarter of the next court year with any which subject from the previous one," said Medenica.
She stated that old cases have priority in the work of all courts, that she calls them "red envelopes".
"Everyone will forget that we completed 130 or 140 thousand cases, the number of court decisions that must be made, that all decisions were made within the legal time limit and that 672 years of imprisonment were pronounced before two higher courts, if we have two or three cases that have been tried for more years It is constantly analyzed and it must be completed," said Medenica.
She said that at the meeting with the presidents of the courts, a special item on the agenda will be how many cases are more than eight years old.
"Let there be three of them, and that is a big burden for the courts. Not a burden as far as the process is concerned, but the creation of a negative perception that these actions will necessarily create among the citizens of Montenegro in relation to the efficiency of the judiciary," assessed Medenica.
She said that she expects the courts to reach last year's level of efficiency, but that this year there were objective problems due to the application of new laws that complicate the procedure for hiring new judges.
Speaking about the institute of guilty pleas, Medenica said that the application of that institute will be analyzed due to the evaluation of the fairness and legality of each accepted agreement.
"The agreement should not only be for certain criminal acts, but for all the ones for which the law provides that it is possible to negotiate, that is, that the prosecutor and the accused can agree on the conditions for concluding an agreement," said Medenica.
She stated that she is proud of the European Commission's report, according to which the Montenegrin judiciary has made the most progress of all the candidate countries, but that the judicial branch of government is a living system that requires constant engagement, responsibility, effectiveness and efficiency.
Medenica said that the most important thing now is not the evaluations of the EC, but the perception of public opinion and the satisfaction of citizens with the work of the courts, and that they will work on that.
"Ratings are years, but we have a survey where the public's perception shows that the majority of citizens are dissatisfied with the work of the courts. The ratings will not drag me down and I will not applaud myself for the EC's rating, but rather worry about the cause of the negative perception of citizens and do everything to eliminate it." said Medenica.
Asked how she comments on Montenegro's results in the fight against organized crime and corruption, Medenica assessed that progress is limited.
According to her, not only Montenegro is in a position to point out this limitation.
"No stronger country with much stronger detection mechanisms can be satisfied because there is always organized crime and corruption. We see what is happening in EU countries with strong democracies, because corruption and organized crime are behind a terrorist act," Medenica believes.
She said that the Supreme Court is deeply aware that for the full effect of the work of the courts and the expected efficiency, there must be good working conditions.
Medenica said that the courts in Montenegro do not have good conditions, especially the specialized High Court in Podgorica, but there are indications that they will have a quality space where we will have adequate conditions for work.
"I hope that the Supreme Court, the Appellate Court and maybe the Administrative Court and some other parts of the court system will be moved to one building, for which we are already pleading to get it for permanent use," said Medenica.
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