28/10/2022 Monitoring
“We regret the failure to proceed to the election of judges to the Constitutional Court by the Parliament of Montenegro at its sitting on 21 October,” said Damien Cottier (Switzerland, ALDE) and Nicos Tornaritis (Cyprus, EPP/CD), the co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for post-monitoring dialogue with Montenegro today.
“These appointments are a constitutional duty for the parliament, especially since the Constitutional Court of Montenegro no longer has the necessary quorum to decide on election disputes. Improving trust in the electoral process is one of the key issues for Montenegro and local or national elections should not be held without a fully functional court,” they added.
“Appointments of judges to the Constitutional Court should be decided on the basis of integrity and merit only,” the co-rapporteurs underlined, considering with disappointment the repeated failure of political parties to overcome their disagreements and act in the interest of the country, against all the statements made during the rapporteurs’ visit in July.
“Such a behavior puts into question the willingness of key political actors to effectively fulfill their commitments to the Council of Europe,” they concluded.
Mr Cottier and Mr Tornaritis will continue to closely follow the developments in Montenegro.