The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has formed a case against the Minister of Justice of Republika Srpska (RS), Milos Bukejlovic, due to non-enforcement of the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH on the temporary suspension of the Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) of RS.
The Prosecutor’s Office stated that the Constitutional Court of BiH, at the beginning of this month, submitted the decision to the Prosecutor’s Office, following which it was “entered into a criminal case which was assigned to the acting prosecutor.”
Earlier this month, the Constitutional Court issued a ruling on the non-enforcement of the decision related to the temporary suspension of the Law on the HJPC of RS. The Constitutional Court stated at the time that it was concluded that the Minister of Justice of RS, Milos Bukejlovic, by passing the rulebook, did not respect the final and binding decision on the temporary measure which has a retroactive effect.
“Therefore, the Minister of Justice, as the responsible person, during the duration of the temporary measure, had no authority or competence to adopt the rulebook, nor any other act, nor did he have the authority or competence to undertake any other measures based on the provisions of the Law on the HJPC of RS, the application of which was temporarily suspended,” the Constitutional Court previously stated.
According to the Constitutional Court, Bukejlovic was obligated to suspend all actions based on the law that was suspended, including actions aimed at publishing the adopted rulebook in the “Official Gazette of RS.”
In the statement, the Court said that the ruling on non-enforcement of the decision of this court was immediately submitted to the State Prosecutor’s Office after adoption, and it noted that non-enforcement entails criminal responsibility, that is, a possible prison sentence of six months to five years.
At the beginning of March, the Constitutional Court, until a final decision is made, temporarily suspended the Law on the HJPC of RS, as well as all acts adopted on the basis of this law “because it poses a serious threat to the already established judicial system.”
According to that decision, all employees and responsible persons in the institutions of RS and employees in state institutions coming from RS are prohibited from undertaking any actions based on this law.
That law is part of a package of four laws previously adopted by deputies of the National Assembly of RS (NARS). At that time, the draft Law on the HJPC of RS was adopted, as well as amendments to the Criminal Code and the Law on a special registry and public work of non-profit organizations in RS.
The adoption of the law, as well as numerous other incendiary messages calling for a return to the “original Dayton,” strengthening of RS institutions, and peaceful dissolution of the BiH entities, came after the president of that entity, Milorad Dodik, was initially sentenced to one year in prison and six years of a ban on holding office due to non-enforcement of decisions of the High Representative. A warrant was later issued for Dodik in BiH.
