Regarding the events in recent months in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and especially the recent statements of the member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, the Association of Judges of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina considered it necessary to announce publicly as follows: The Association of Judges of the Court of BiH strongly condemns any political or any other pressure on the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, judges of the Court of BiH, heads of the said institution, ie the President of the Court of BiH, as well as any influence on the lawful and transparent work of the Court.
In this regard, the Association of Judges of the Court of BiH reminds that the Court of BiH, ie the President of the Court and judges of the Court of BiH act exclusively on the basis of basic principles of judiciary, ie independence, impartiality and equality, with full respect for ethical and professional principles and standards. according to work, ie integrity and proper behavior, having in mind the function they perform in a democratic and independent society.
On Wednesday, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has responded to the allegations by a member of the presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik. Namely, Dodik claims that the President of the Court has unlimited power to give consent for wiretapping and that Ranko Debevec has a Spanish name, Department of Public Information and Community Cooperation The Registry of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall make a public statement, Vijesti.ba news portal reports.
“Orders of the President of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, issued upon the proposal of the Director of the Intelligence and Security Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to determine measures for secret surveillance of telecommunications, are issued in accordance with the Law on Intelligence and Security Agency of BiH. The Law on the Intelligence and Security Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina prescribes the procedure for proposing, determining, implementing and suspending secret surveillance measures. The President of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina therefore does not have unlimited power to give consent to wiretapping. As a reminder, several years after the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared certain provisions of the Law on ISA BiH unconstitutional, the executive and legislative authorities did not execute the decision of the highest court in the country and adopted relevant amendments to that law. Even without that, the President of the Court adheres to the standards from the decision of the Constitutional Court in question when issuing the order. Unlike most other institutions, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has a certificate of the State Security Authority on the Security Area II level for storage, processing and storage of classified information, which testifies to the provability of the legality of each issued order before the competent institutions. In support of the above, the statistical data on issued orders also contains orders that were suspended by the President of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina with a reasoned decision. This certainly complements the denial that the President of the Court has unlimited power to consent to wiretapping. It is probably clear from Mr. Dodik’s speech in the media and in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska that it is he who issues orders for illegal wiretapping of the opposition and citizens in the RS, and not the President of the Court of BiH, as Mr. Dodik admitted in several of his public appearances, and even behind the parliamentary speaker,” it was stated by the Court of BiH.
