By voting for the Supreme State Prosecutor for the third time, the Members of the Parliament have violated the Constitution of Montenegro, which, in accordance with Amendment IV adopted in July 2013, explicitly prescribes only two rounds of voting.

In November 2013, the third round of voting for the Supreme State Prosecutor was unconstitutionally added to the Rules of Procedure – an act of lower legal force than the Constitution.

When the third round of voting was announced, after no candidate got the required 3/5 majority in the second round, Human Rights Action (HRA) immediately submitted an initiative to the Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of the provision of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament which prescribes the third round of voting.

The Constitutional Court had two full weeks to review the initiative and adopt at least a temporary measure to postpone today’s voting until the decision is made on whether the “addition” to the Rules of Procedure is constitutional or not. In our opinion, by ignoring the initiative, the newly-elected composition of the Constitutional Court has shown unwillingness to effectively and responsibly perform its function.

By deciding to vote, contrary to the procedures prescribed by the Constitution, the MPs have publicly promoted a stance that political interests exceeds the interest of the rule of law and the protection of constitutionality. The Constitution has thus been relativized, while the MPs have demonstrated a willingness to amend it with laws of lower legal force, contrary to the principle of constitutionality which forms the basis of the rule of law.

The need to elect a Supreme State Prosecutor who is not a puppet of the ruling party for the first time after the Second World War is no doubt of particular importance for democracy in Montenegro. However, this attempt to conduct reforms by violating the Constitution represents a particularly serious blow to the rule of law.