The process of appointing a new judge in the Constitutional Court should be completed on time so that the vacant position can be filled immediately in accordance with the applicable rules, said the spokeswoman of the European Commission. Ana Pisonero Hernandez.
She told "Vijesti" that the EC is carefully following the procedure of appointing a new judge in the Constitutional Court, considering the upcoming retirement (of the President of the Constitutional Court Milorad Gogić).
Gogić's mandate expires at the end of May when he becomes eligible for retirement, and the Parliamentary Constitutional Committee established a list of candidates for his replacement at the beginning of March. However, interviews with the candidates have not yet been scheduled.
Pisonero Hernandez says that the EC welcomes last week's decision to suspend the initiative of a group of deputies to amend the Law on the Constitutional Court in a hasty manner.
"Such a reform requires appropriate analysis, explanation and consultation, including the European and Venice Commissions", said Pisonero Hernandez in response to the questions of "Vijeta", what is the position of the EC regarding the government's attempt to raise the retirement age for judges of the Constitutional Court and whether is a good solution to raise the retirement age only for judges of the Constitutional Court, not all judges.
The parliamentary majority tried, first through a proposal to amend the Law on the Constitutional Court, and then through a proposal to amend the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance (PIO), to raise the retirement age for judges of the Constitutional Court and thus "extend" the mandate of the part of judges who would should have retired.
However, after reactions in the public, they first withdrew the proposal to amend the Law on the Constitutional Court, and the MPs of the Europe Now Movement (PES) announced yesterday the withdrawal of the proposal to amend the Law on PIO. The proposals stipulated that the retirement age of judges of the Constitutional Court should be raised from 65 to 67 years.
MPs of PES Vasilije Carapić i Darko Dragović they had yesterday consultation with the chief negotiator with the European Union (EU) Predrag Zenović and the negotiator for the fundamental chapters Bojan Božović who told them that the reform process in the area of the rule of law should, among other things, regulate the working conditions of judicial office bearers.
PES announced that at the meeting it was emphasized that Montenegro must not find itself in another constitutional crisis, as well as that the opposition and the parliamentary majority should not allow the Constitutional Court to be blocked again.
From the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) they welcomed the withdrawal of the "anti-systemic" Law on PIO.
"We express the hope that the lessons about frequent fouls and subsequent corrections will, at least a little, influence the parliamentary majority not to resort to unconstitutional solutions in the future, in order to abuse institutions through political corruption," wrote the head of the DPS Parliamentary Club. Andrija Nikolić on the X network.
Member of the Civil Movement (GP) URA Ana Novaković Đurović announced that the parliamentary majority constantly shows that it lacks knowledge and readiness for serious reforms and that playing with systemic laws is not the path that leads Montenegro to the EU.
She pointed out that it is the parliamentary majority that can have a negative impact on obtaining the Report on the Fulfillment of Temporary Benchmarks (IBAR).
"Playing with systemic laws, which require broad consultations and long-term solutions, is certainly not the path that will lead us to the EU. With this approach, the parliamentary majority is the one that can negatively affect the obtaining of IBAR", stressed Novaković Đurović.
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President of the parliamentary club Social Democrats Boris Mugoša said that it is necessary to open a serious discussion on the issue of acquiring the right of judges and prosecutors to an old-age pension.
"As I announced to the press a few days ago - the proponents should withdraw the problematic proposed changes to the PIO Act from the parliamentary procedure and open up the issue of acquiring the right to old-age pension to both judges and prosecutors and lead a serious and professional discussion on it," Mugoša said. .
He states that the aforementioned discussion should bring together all relevant actors and result in the adoption of a systemic solution, and not solve the aforementioned problem in the "proposed inadmissible way" for a country that truly wants to be the first next member of the European Union.
"Instead of this unnecessary and problematic experiment, I call on all parliamentary parties to finish the process of electing the seventh judge of the Constitutional Court as soon as possible," concluded Mugoša.
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Human Rights Action (HRA) welcomed the withdrawal of the "ill-considered Bill on Amendments to the Law on Public Prosecutions", which was supposed to provide an exception to the pension eligibility requirements only for judges of the Constitutional Court.
"This issue should be resolved on the basis of an adequate discussion for all judges and state prosecutors, without favoring the judges of the Constitutional Court who have already fulfilled the conditions for termination of office", announced HRA.
On April 12, 16 non-governmental organizations sent a protest against the proposal to extend the mandate of current US judges.
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