Podgorica, (MINA) – Decisions issued by the Parliament and the President of Montenegro cannot be exempted from judicial review, especially those concerning dismissals of public officials, which are not covered by the discretionary powers of the highest state authorities, the Constitutional Court has ruled.

The Court announced that it has refused to declare unconstitutional the provision of the Law on Administrative Disputes, which excludes the possibility of initiating an administrative dispute against decisions made by Parliament and the President of the State, based on their constitutional powers, because such exclusion does not mean those decisions cannot be challenged in other types of court proceedings, in order to ensure effective protection of the right of access to court.

Lawyer V.C., who submitted the initiative for constitutional review, pointed out in his explanation that the Constitution does not prescribe exceptions, but that court proceedings can be initiated against each individual act, as well as that the disputed provision caused serious problems in judicial practice.

“The Constitutional Court has assessed that the fact that a certain act issued by the Parliament or the President of the State cannot be challenged in administrative proceedings does not exclude any possibility of judicial review, nor does it limit its right of access to a court, which is guaranteed by the Constitution to everyone”, the press release says.

The Constitutional Court stressed that this is especially the case in situations where the Parliament or the President make decisions affecting the rights, obligations or legal status of specific individuals.