Piperović: A professional disaster is unfolding, courts are not respecting the Criminal Procedure Code

Attorney Zoran Piperović has assessed that Montenegro’s judiciary is going through a serious professional crisis, arguing that certain decisions of higher judicial instances deviate from fundamental legal principles, that detention has become the rule rather than the exception, and that the Criminal Procedure Code is not being respected.

Piperović has for some time been warning about what he considers to be poor practice by the Court of Appeal, which, according to him, has been adding a fourth ground for detention, namely the gravity of the criminal offence, to final detention rulings issued by the High Court. His warnings and appeals, he says, have gone unanswered. Speaking on Television E’s news programme „24 Hours“ („24 sata“), he described the situation as both a professional and judicial catastrophe.

- I have been warning about this for a full two years, ever since detention was ordered for Zoran Lazović. They know I am telling the truth. I have explained thousands of times why this cannot be done and how new circumstances should be handled when they arise. Nothing can be added to a final and binding court decision. A new decision must be issued. There must be a new ruling establishing a new legal ground, and there must be a right to appeal. Adding a new ground to a final ruling means altering it. For a thousand years, no legal system has allowed additions to a final decision in administrative, civil, or criminal proceedings. This is the ABC of law; we learn it in our second or third year of law school - Piperović explained.

However, he stressed that when such actions originate from courts such as the Court of Appeal, something is clearly wrong.

- Why it is wrong can be debated. I may think it is pressure, a political decision, or fear. What I do know is that it is not professionalism or legal expertise - he added.

According to Piperović, an even more troubling issue is the Court of Appeal’s decision to return to the High Court a case in which the request by the Special State Prosecutor’s Office to order detention for businessmen Ranko Ubović and Vladan Ivanović had previously been dismissed.

- The moment the legal basis for their detention ceased to exist, that ruling became both de jure and de facto dead and no longer existed within the legal order. Yet now they are asking for the „dead“ ruling to be revived, instead of issuing a new one. Rather than recognizing this, the Court of Appeal says: „Decide on it“. Decide on what, when that ruling legally no longer exists? It is the same as sending a voting notice to someone who died fifteen years ago. If a court of that level has to be told this, then look at the state we're in - Piperović stressed.

He believes that the High Court should take a clear position and refuse to rule further on such matters.

- They should state that the detention ruling issued under point two no longer exists in the legal system and that any judge or prosecutor could tear it out of the case file. Colleagues from the region call me and ask whether I am joking when they hear what is happening. They simply cannot believe it - he added.

„The first axiom of this profession is that everyone is equal“

Piperović also argued that the Supreme Court cannot claim that it is unable to interpret or publicly discuss individual cases, given that it is precisely the institution tasked with resolving disputes between the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

- The Supreme Court is obliged to do so by default. This reminds me of a statement by the former President of the Court of Appeal, who once said on television that the names in case files meant nothing to her. They do mean something, because she knew very well who was involved and knowingly did something that resulted in a criminal complaint being filed. Whenever it suits them, they say they cannot comment on individual cases or individuals. Yet the Supreme Court dealt with these two cases during detention-extension proceedings. They made an even bigger mistake - the reporting judge, Ana Vuković, while extending detention, went beyond the scope of the SSPO’s investigation order. She expanded it. When I filed a criminal complaint against her, she was never questioned. Instead, prosecutor Turković claimed that Vuković had issued a supplementary ruling. That supplementary ruling does not exist because I never received it - Piperović said.

He further argued that the Supreme Court’s ruling demonstrated what he described as „ill will“ toward Zoran Lazović.

- The first axiom in this profession is that everyone is equal - he emphasized.

According to Piperović, detention has effectively become a form of punishment. He stressed that a good judge or prosecutor is one who does not resort lightly to detention.

- On the contrary, you should not feel comfortable simply because someone is in detention, unless they genuinely need to be detained - Piperović said.

„Personal interests are worth nothing compared to the pursuit of justice“

Commenting on figures from the annual report of the Council of Europe, which place Montenegro among the leading European countries in terms of the number of detainees, Piperović said this reflects a mentality that has prevailed over the past six years - that without detention, there is no case.

- This happened because the prosecution, largely for political reasons, concluded that the time had come for everyone to be detained. Throughout my career, while defending clients, I have never described a case as political, even when I believed it was. Saying that someone is a political prisoner does not help them, quite the opposite. But I am compelled to say that in some cases involving people I represent, politics is watching, supervising and issuing warnings through parliamentary debates, conferences and conventions, sending direct signals to the courts that essentially say: „Do not even think about releasing these people“. Judges are human beings. Some seek promotion, some have loans to pay, some do not own a home. It is incompatible with judicial and prosecutorial office to act for personal benefit. The moment you do it for the first time, you cease to be either a judge or a prosecutor - Piperović stated.

He added that he understands why Europe may fail to see these problems, but argued that Montenegro, in its current state, would never have been considered for EU membership were it not for the war in Ukraine.

- Even though we are not criminals, that does not stop some officials from labeling us as such. But I appeal to them to remember that people’s lives are in their hands and that no personal interest is worth more than the pursuit of justice and the role of a judge. We do not have that here - Piperović concluded.