N5.T5 – Judge Shortage at the Appellate Court: Selection Process Stalled by Judicial Council Commission
HRA NEWSLETTER 5 – TOPIC 5
President of the Appellate Court of Montenegro, Mirjana Popović, sent an urgent request to the President of the Judicial Council, Radoje Korać, urging the swift completion of the evaluation and selection process for judges who applied for the vacant positions in the court.
In her letter, she emphasized the seriousness of the situation the Appellate Court has faced since May of last year due to a lack of judges, especially as the number of cases (both criminal and civil) continues to rise. Four judges have retired, and to operate efficiently, the court requires 12 judges in addition to the court president. Currently, there is only one criminal panel, down from two.
During the judges’ meeting of the Appellate Court on February 7, Popović pointed out the need to intensify work on cases from last year and those dating back more than three years to meet deadlines.
Radoje Korać, President of the Judicial Council, stated to Radio Montenegro that the selection of the missing judges will be completed once the relevant commission has finished its work.
Five judges have applied for the vacancies at the Appellate Court: Amir Đokaj, Vesna Kovačević, Sonja Keković, Nenad Vujanović, and Igor Đuričković.
Currently, the Montenegrin judiciary is short by 67 judges. Despite this, the processes for selecting and promoting judges have been sluggish. An analysis by the NGO Human Rights Action revealed that, over the past two years, it has taken an average of five to six months from the public announcement of vacancies to the final decision on selecting and assigning judges.
Judges have often waited even longer for promotions, with an average waiting time of nine months from the public announcement to the final selection. This period includes evaluating judges’ work and interviewing candidates. The HRA analysis also indicated that selecting court presidents typically takes four to five months.
In a country experiencing a judge shortage in nearly all courts since 2023, it is crucial to expedite the selection and promotion processes for judges and eliminate any obstacles that hinder this progress.
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