Press release regarding the Constitutional Court of Montenegro decision: Government’s position confirmed

The Constitutional Court of Montenegro has passed a Decision (U – I br. 6/14 i 9/14) confirming the position of the Government of Montenegro (put forth in the form of a proposal for the assessment of constitutionality of the Law on the protection of national interests in the mining-metallurgical sector) that the said law, which is now defunct, has violated, among other things, the principle of separation of power, i.e. the principle of the rule of law.

By adopting this law, the Parliament had constituted itself, in a manner contrary to the Constitution of Montenegro, as a new organ in the bankruptcy proceedings with an unacceptably high level of arbitration authority in the process. This law had also made grave violations of the rights of creditors, not only in this proceeding, but also in any similar future cases.

Furthermore, the law had instituted in the legal system of Montenegro an uncertainty in terms of the final outcome and implementation of its provisions, as well as a complete legal uncertainty. Therefore, this law could not have been considered as being based on the rule of law and the principles of certainty and predictability.