On the occasion of the adoption of the anti-Dayton and anti-constitutional conclusions in the National Assembly of BiH, Denis Bećirović, member of the BiH Presidency entity of the RS at the initiative of the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entity Milorad Dodik, stated that the composition of the Constitutional Court of BiH is regulated by Article VI/1 of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Ultimately, the judge acts in the Constitutional Court of BiH in a personal capacity, and not in the capacity of a representative of an entity or some other entity. Before assuming office, each elected judge signed a solemn statement in which he committed himself to comply with the Constitution and laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina in performing his duties as a judge of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to perform his duties conscientiously and impartially. Considering all the above, it is the duty of the judges of the Constitutional Court of BiH to remain consistent with their beliefs and to honorably protect the profession they belong to,” adds Bećirović.
As one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he added, the RS is not authorized to unilaterally regulate the areas under the jurisdiction of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this regard, any standardization of the work of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, contrary to the valid constitutional provisions, represents a serious form of unconstitutional action.
Bećirović notes that the status, composition and competences of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina are regulated by the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, not entity acts. The constitutional provisions stipulate that the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH are final and binding. Considering the above, the question of the composition of the Constitutional Court of BiH cannot be regulated at the entity level.
“According to Article 239 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina: “An official in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entity institutions or institutions of the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who refuses to execute the final and enforceable decision of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the House for Human Rights or the European Court for human rights, or prevents such a decision from being carried out, or otherwise prevents its execution, will be punished by a prison sentence of six months to five years”, states Bećirović.
He added that the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina was established by Article VI of the Constitution of BiH as an independent guardian of the Constitution and as an institutional guarantor for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms established by the Constitution of BiH and the instruments of Annex I of the Constitution of BiH. The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not part of either the legislative or the executive branch, but is positioned by the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a special independent and independent authority.
“Taking into account the special position and role that the Constitutional Court of BiH has in the Constitution of BiH, which imposes the obligation to ensure its independence, including full financial and administrative independence and independence, it is inadmissible for any judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH to respond to the invitation of non-competent entity bodies authorities. The adopted conclusion of the National Assembly of the RS, in which the judges of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina from among the Serb people are invited to resign from the position of judges of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, represents an unfathomably dangerous attempt to copy the unconstitutional methods used by the war criminal Radovan Karadžić, who was convicted in 1992.” added Bećirović, it was announced from the BiH Presidency.
