Vladimir Stanisic he is no longer the director of the Police Academy.
He confirmed this to "Vijesti" late last night, explaining that the Board of Directors informed him about the executive and final judgment of the High Court, according to which the competition in which he was elected was annulled as illegal. The verdict is final and enforceable from April 17.
"...I was informed by the President of the Board of Directors that they were served with an executive judgment annulling the decision on the election of the Director of the Police Academy. In this regard, I inform you that I am no longer the director of the Police Academy. Further steps will be decided by the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation and the Management Board," Stanišić announced last night, adding to the previously given answer to the editors that he was not aware of the content of the verdict.
"...I was appointed by the relevant ministry to the term of office as the director of the Junior High School 'Police Academy' Danilovgrad, for a period of four years, in accordance with the provisions of the then valid General Law on Education and Training. As the same did not issue an act of dismissal, my mandate did not end", writes Stanišić in his first reply.
MPNI did not answer the "News" questions regarding compliance with the final judgment of the High Court, according to which the competition for the director of the Police Academy was not legal.
From the department Angel Jakšić Stojanović they previously announced that they would act according to the High Court's verdict, but did not specify how.
According to the General Law on Education and Training, which was valid until May of last year, the director of the Police Academy was chosen by the ministry, while according to the new amendments, the Board of Directors is responsible for the appointment.
The Statute of the Police Academy stipulates that the Supervisory Board has seven members, consisting of three representatives of the administrative body in charge of education (Ministry), three representatives of employees and one representative of social partners. According to unofficial information, the Education Inspectorate recently made a decision that the social partner in the academy cannot be represented by an employee of the MUP, but an appeal was filed against that decision.
At the end of last year, the basic court in Podgorica annulled as illegal the decision of the then Ministry of Education, which appointed Stanišić as the director of the Police Academy in Danilovgrad. In the first-instance verdict, the court assessed that the competition for the election of the director was not conducted in accordance with the law, and this decision was confirmed on April 5 by the Higher Court.
The MPNI replied to "Vijesta" that, after the final and enforceable judgment is delivered to them, "they will take all measures and actions within their jurisdiction to comply with the decisions of the judicial authorities."
The lawsuit regarding the election of Stanišić as head of the PA was filed by employees of the Police Academy Svetomir Knezevic, Žarko Mrdović i Damir Zejnilović.
Stanišić was elected director of the Police Academy on January 13, 2023, for a term of four years.
The higher court states that "the illegal competition could have been annulled, which the defendant authority did not do".
"In such a state of affairs, the finding, on which the first-instance judgment was also based, is relevant, that due to irregularities, potential candidates were misled regarding the documentation that had to be submitted. Procedural failures were of such importance that the disputed Decision on the selection of candidates was affected by illegality, which could be challenged by any interested person, potential candidate, even the prosecutors, regardless of whether they are in fact, despite the variety of published conditions, incorrect and accurate were able to submit complete documentation," the High Court's verdict states.
On April 17, the judgment of the High Court that the competition according to which Stanišić was selected was illegal became final and enforceable
It also says that the first-instance court unquestionably correctly stated that it was acted against the General Law on Education and Training, which stipulates that the candidate for director is obliged to submit the program of the institution's work along with the application for the competition.
Last week, the Basic Court in Danilovgrad found that the Police Academy illegally fired an employee Jelena Tomic, and the judgment obliges the institution to return it to work within eight days from the date of finality.
In the first-instance verdict, it was established that sick leave to care for the child could not be a justified reason for the termination of the employment contract. Tomić, the head of the department for international cooperation, and her colleague Damir Zejnilović were fired in May last year due to the alleged abuse of sick leave because they did not submit the confirmation of the chosen doctor within three days.
The Basic Court states in its verdict that the employee is obliged to submit a medical doctor's certificate to the employer within three days from the date of temporary inability to work, while the doctor is obliged to issue a certificate on the day the sick leave starts.
"If the doctor does not issue a certificate on the day of the opening of the temporary disability, as is the case with the plaintiff who was not issued such a certificate on the day of the opening of the sick leave, then the employee, i.e. the plaintiff cannot bear the blame and the consequences of not issuing the certificate and because of this, her employment cannot be terminated . The plaintiff delivered the certificates in question to the defendant within three days from the date of issuance, and she was essentially only able to deliver such certificates during that period because they were not issued to her on the day of the opening of the temporary incapacity for work," the judgment reads.
The first-instance verdict established that sick leave to care for a child could not be a justified reason for the termination of Jelena Tomić's employment contract.
Tomić told "Vijesta" that "even a layman was clear from the very beginning of the proceedings that the verdict would be like this".
"It is terrible that this small amount will be paid by the citizens of Montenegro, the taxpayers, and not by the person who knowingly caused us harm... It is terrible that this same person was illegally elected, as established by the High Court in Podgorica," Tomić assessed.
If the High Court confirms the first-instance verdict, the Police Academy will have to pay Tomić 9.357 euros in lost earnings, plus default interest from January 31 of this year until the final payment, as well as 1.461 euros for court costs.
Zejnilović is also expecting a first-instance verdict on the lawsuit for illegal dismissal.
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