Podgorica, (MINA) - President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatovic, will propose to the Parliament to elect Supreme Court judge Jelena Ruzicic as a judge of the Constitutional Court.

Speaking at the press conference, he said that ten candidates applied for the public call for the election of a Constitutional Court judge, which he announced at the end of last year, adding that it was one of the strongest calls in terms of quality.

According to Milatovic, apart from Ruzicic, the candidates include High Court in Bijelo Polje judges Almir Muratovic and Ivan Adamovic, judges of the Podgorica High Court Marija Boskovic, Marko Blagojevic and Nenad Vujanovic, as well as the chief adviser of Ombudsman Milica Kovacevic.

According to Milatovic, president of the Basic Court in Rozaje Mirsad Mujevic, head of the Directorate for Judicial Organization in the Ministry of Justice Natasa Radonjic, and chief administrator in the Municipality of Herceg Novi Nenad Djordjevic, also applied to the call.

Milatovic said that during the process of determining the proposal for a Constitutional Court judge he talked with the candidates and decided to propose Ruzicic to the Parliament.

“I expect that during the voting in the plenum she will receive support from all parties, both the ruling majority and the opposition, bearing in mind her impressive judicial biography”, said Milatovic.

He said that he had completed his part of the work and that the responsibility now lies with the Parliament.

Milatovic recalled that in the past three months the Parliament failed to complete the procedure regarding his proposal to elect Predrag Krstonijevic as a Constitutional Court judge.

When asked by a journalist whether he expected the Parliament to postpone the election of Constitutional Court judges again, Milatovic said that he had done everything in his power and that he had only assessed candidates based on professional criteria.

“Any delay of electing judges of the Constitutional Court, without clear arguments, is an attack on the rule of law in Montenegro, on our European integration and a direct blockade of our European path”, concluded Milatovic.