The current administration has overlooked the vetting issue, despite ongoing public feedback indicating that the process is significantly overdue and should commence immediately, according to the Action for Social Justice (ASP).

The ASP noted that nearly five years since the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) was removed from power, the Ministry of Justice has produced only a single document outlining the conditions for implementing vetting within the judiciary.

“Seven representatives from the courts and the prosecutor’s office took part in drafting, along with Nina Paović representing the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK), who recently had an indictment confirmed by the Special State Prosecutor’s Office regarding abuse of office,” the NGO stated.

The ASP revealed that at the end of April, following the Law on Free Access to Information, the Ministry of Justice replied to their inquiries about forming working teams/groups/commissions and drafting documents about vetting implementation in the judiciary for the period from 2021 to the present.

According to the ASP, the response indicated that only one working group was established in December 2022, during the tenure of the previous minority government.

“The judges appointed at that time included two from the Supreme Court: Nevenka Popović and Husnija Simonović, along with Rade Ćetković from the Podgorica Basic Court, and Valentina Pavličić, the then representative of Montenegro at the Strasbourg court,” the statement detailed.

It mentioned that from among the prosecutors, Jelena Đaletić and Dražen Burić from the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office, as well as Filip Jovović, a lawyer from the Prosecutorial Council, were also appointed.

“The group included then-Minister of Justice Marko Kovač, his deputy and current Minister Bojan Božović, Director of the Directorate of Justice Miomir Jauković (who has been employed at the Ministry since 2009), Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee for the Political System Slavica Mirković (who has been in Parliament since the DPS era), Advisor to the then Prime Minister Ivo Šoć, as well as Nina Paović from ASK (currently accused of abuse of office),” the ASP noted.

They indicated that a representative from the civil sector was added to the working group a month later, and by October 2023, the group finalized a document entitled “Information on the Analysis of Creating Conditions for Introducing the Vetting Process in the Judiciary.”

“Interestingly, as the first phase of the vetting, the working group, in collaboration with representatives from the judicial and prosecutorial authorities, is proposing amendments to the Constitution. These amendments involve the permanence of the judicial function, the structure of the Judicial Council, and additional provisions related to vetting, followed by the creation of a special law on measures concerning the selection of council members in judicial and prosecutorial affairs,” the statement continued.

The ASP pointed out that since amendments to the Constitution require support from both the government and the opposition, it becomes almost impossible for this to be implemented practically.

“In essence, pursuing vetting through constitutional amendments would be a Sisyphean task, particularly as the judges and prosecutors, who are the focus of the vetting process, have a vested interest in ensuring it is never executed,” the NGO remarked.

According to their assessment, the new Government has not tackled the vetting issue, even though certain members occasionally make public statements asserting that reforms are necessary—usually following prominent verdicts of public interest—despite consistent public sentiment that the vetting process is severely delayed and should be started without hesitation.

“Currently, the impression is that the team under special prosecutor Vladmir Novović is the only group to have initiated a form of vetting, through launching investigations into former judicial and prosecutorial officials, yet the outcomes of these court proceedings remain uncertain, as the public continues to express that the system is ‘captured’,” the statement added.

The ASP also mentioned that “at least one former donor to a DPS campaign was involved in the latest advertisement for basic court judges.”

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