N3.T8 – DIZDAREVIĆ ONLY CANDIDATE FOR JUDICIAL COUNCIL; PROSECUTORIAL COUNCIL COMPLETION STILL PENDING
HRA NEWSLETTER 3 – TOPIC 8
During a session on December 5, the Committee for Political System, Judiciary and Administration of the National Assembly of Montenegro approved a list of candidates to fill the vacant position on the Judicial Council, with only attorney Kasim Dizdarević, a former judge, applying for the role following the competition announced on August 1.
At the same session, the Committee decided to send a letter to the Bar Association, requesting it to issue a public call for the missing member of the Prosecutorial Council. This vacancy arose after attorneys Siniša Gazivoda and Miloš Vuksanović resigned in August and September 2024, respectively.
Committee President Vladislav Bojović explained that changes brought about by the adoption of the Law on State Prosecutor’s Office require the Committee to propose four members instead of five for the Prosecutorial Council. He specified that the Committee would issue a public call for two distinguished lawyers and one representative from the non-governmental sector, while one additional candidate would be proposed by the Bar Association. “Since the Prosecutorial Council already includes two distinguished lawyers and one representative from the NGO sector, it is the Bar Association’s obligation to issue a public call to fill the missing position”, Bojović elaborated.
However, representatives from Human Rights Action (HRA) dispute Bojović’s interpretation, citing the new Law on the State Prosecutor’s Office. They assert that the Prosecutorial Council elected under the previous provisions must continue its work until the end of its four-year mandate, as stipulated in Article 184 f. Moreover, they highlight that Article 19 of the same law clearly states that a member’s term lasts until the end of the Council’s mandate, establishing what is referred to as a “bound mandate.”
“If a member is subsequently elected for a vacant position, their mandate concludes simultaneously with that of the Council. This Article also indicates that upon the end of any member’s mandate, the authority that elected them must immediately appoint a replacement. Therefore, the Committee is required to propose and the Assembly to elect the two missing members of the Prosecutorial Council,” HRA representatives stated.
This issue was also addressed during the presentation of the HRA report on the work of the Prosecutorial Council in 2023 and 2024, held on December 27. Representatives from the Council supported the position that the actions taken by the Committee were inconsistent with the transitional provisions of the Law on the State Prosecutor’s Office.
