Marija Vesković, legal advisor to the Human Rights Action (HRA), was appointed as member of the Working Group charged with preparing the Draft Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on the Judicial Council and Judges as a candidate of the following 11 non-governmental organisations: Human Rights Action, Centre for Civic Education, Centre for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro, Centre for Monitoring and Research – CeMI, Centre for Women’s Rights, Centre for the Development of Non-Governmental Organisations, Centre for Democracy and Human Rights – CEDEM, European Association for Law and Finance, Institute Alternativa,  Juventas, and the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector – MANS.

HRA has been monitoring the work of the Judicial Council since 2008. In 2006, its working group proposed to reform the election of judges by moving the election from a political body – the Parliament of Montenegro – to a professional one, i.e. the Judicial Council, which was accepted in the Montenegrin Constitution of 2007.

Although 6 out of 18 HRA’s proposals were accepted in March 2011, in the process of drafting the Law on the Judicial Council, the proposal to introduce guarantees of independence and against conflicts of members of the Judicial Council, which would ensure complete impartiality and independence of that body, was never accepted.

Of the 21 amendments that the HRA proposed regarding the Draft Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on the Judicial Council in September 2013, the people’s deputies proposed one, which was not adopted.

In 2015, the HRA submitted 31 proposed amendments, none of which were adopted.

Our main objective will be to consistently advocate in the Working Group for the introduction of guarantees against conflicts of interest for all members of the Council, that is, especially for guarantees of independence from political influence for members who are elected from among the ranks of distinguished lawyers. Of course, in addition to the above, we have also prepared a considerable number of proposals that would make the work of the Judicial Council more transparent, more objective and more efficient.

We are open to any proposals that could improve the existing Law and are hereby inviting you to inform us about them.