Podgorica: "It would be scandalous"

PODGORICA -- Montenegrin PM Zdravko Krivokapić to decide on the election of the President of the Administrative Court at the session of the Judicial Council on February 25.

Podgorica: "It would be scandalous"

PODGORICA -- Montenegrin PM Zdravko Krivokapić to decide on the election of the President of the Administrative Court at the session of the Judicial Council on February 25.

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Prime Minister of Montenegro, Zdravko Krivokapić, could decide on the election of the President of the Administrative Court at the session of the Judicial Council on February 25, several lawyers told Vijesti yesterday, while the Judicial Council did not provide an answer whether this could be disputable.

The very thought that the head of the executive power is present, let alone deciding on the holders of functions in the judiciary - is in itself nonsense, not to mention the constitutional-political scandal, says former Prime Minister Dusko Markovic.

He was Minister of Justice when the amendments to the Constitution of Montenegro were adopted in order to ensure the independence of the judiciary, as well as after the Law on Courts and the Judicial Council was amended with the same goal.

At that time, the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe submitted an opinion on the proposed amendments and proposed amendments to the law, which was mostly adopted.

Former Minister of Justice Dusko Markovic said in a written statement for "Vijesti" that "the Constitution of Montenegro prescribes the composition of the Judicial Council, and precisely because of the unambiguous constitutional provision, an interpretation derogating from the highest legal act and its goals of judicial power must not be allowed".

"The interpretation that the Prime Minister, as the interim head of the Ministry of Justice, as such determined by an administrative act, and in the case of a vacant ministerial position, should be a member of the Judicial Council - is wrong and unsustainable because the Constitution left the possibility and procedure for electing a new Minister of Justice who would sit on the Judicial Council. The minister only, no one else," he said.

Markovic reminds that the Minister of Justice is elected by the Assembly, which, he says, is an expression of the will of the citizens, and in that way he as an individual stands among other members of the Judicial Council who are elected on the same principle - through expression of direct democratic will in parliamentary procedure.

"Zdravko Krivokapić, as the Prime Minister, and today the Prime Minister in the technical mandate, was appointed by the Government as the coordinator of the ministry in charge of justice, so the content of his authority in terms of participation in the judiciary is completely contrary to the constitutional meaning and authority of the Judicial Council. In a word, the very thought that the head of the executive power is present, let alone deciding on the holders of functions in the judiciary - is in itself nonsense, not to mention the constitutional-political scandal", Markovic concluded.