The European Parliament’s rapporteur for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Paulo Rangel, said on Sunday that he was concerned about “a series of escalation steps in BiH“.
He emphasized that this includes the move of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska (NARS) to adopt a draft law on the establishment of an entity High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC).
On February 10th, the RS Assembly took the first step towards forming the entity’s HJPC, an institution that already exists at the BiH state level.
Calling for the urgent annulment of inappropriate actions, Rangel stated this action undermines the rule of law, the rule of law, and the independence of the judiciary.
As he stated, this violates the Constitution and the Dayton Peace Agreement, endangers the constitutional order of BiH, and additionally affects the European integration of BiH, as well asthe implementation of the necessary reforms.
”I call on politicians to completely re-engage in state institutions, working to preserve peace and improve the democratization of the country for the benefit of the citizens of BiH,” said Rangel.
The draft law on the establishment of the RS HJPC is unconstitutional because it transfers competencies from the state to the entity level.
Such a decision on the transfer of competencies from the state to the entity as a lower level of government can only be made by the state parliament.
Namely, the draft law was sent to a public debate of 60 days, after which the deputies will discuss the law again in the form of a proposal – followed by adoption.
The task of the HJPC RS would be to appoint judges and prosecutors on the territory of that BiH Entity. The law regulates the work of the HJPC, the organization, competencies, authorities, conditions, and mandate for performing the judicial and prosecutorial function.
