The member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina(BiH), Denis Becirovic, reacted on the adoption of the anti-Dayton and anti-constitutional conclusions in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska (NARS), one of BiH entities, on the initiative of the president of that BiH entity, Milorad Dodik.
Becirovic said that the composition of the Constitutional Court of BiH is regulated by Article VI/1. of the Constitution of BiH and that 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 BiH in performing his duties as a judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH and to perform his duties conscientiously and impartially. Considering all of 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.
“As one of the two entities of BiH, the RS is not authorized to unilaterally regulate areas that are under the jurisdiction of the state of BiH. In this regard, any standardization of the work of the Constitutional Court of BiH, contrary to the valid constitutional provisions, represents a serious form of unconstitutional action,” he said.
He emphasized that the status, composition and competences of the Constitutional Court of BiH are regulated by the Constitution of BiH, not entity acts. The constitutional provisions stipulate that the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH are final and binding. Considering the above mentioned, 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 BiH: “An official in the institutions of BiH, entity institutions or institutions of the Brcko District of BiH, who refuses to execute the final and enforceable decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH, the Court of BiH, the House for Human Rights or the European Court for human rights, or prevents such a decision from being carried out, or otherwise makes its execution impossible, shall be punished by imprisonment from six months to five years”. The Constitutional Court of BiH 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 BiH is not part of either the legislative or the executive branch, but is positioned by the Constitution of BiH as a special independent and independent authority,” he said.
Becirovic stated that, 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 sovereignty, it is inadmissible for any judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH to respond at the invitation of non-competent entity authorities.
“The adopted conclusion of the NARS, in which the judges of the Constitutional Court of BiH from the rank of Serbian people are called upon to resign from the position of judges of the Constitutional Court of BiH, represents an unfathomably dangerous attempt to copy the unconstitutional methods used in 1992 by the legally convicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic,” concluded Becirovic.
