The National Assembly of Republika Srpska (NARS) will today consider, under urgent procedure, the law on the protection of the constitutional order of RS. The law, proposed by Milorad Dodik, President of RS, establishes the RS Special Prosecutor’s Office, and for those who are prosecuted, a special detention unit will be established in the Banja Luka Correctional Facility.
The law provides for the establishment of the RS Special Prosecutor’s Office, which will be responsible for “criminal offenses” as defined by this law. Among the 21 criminal offenses outlined in the law is “Disrespect or failure to execute decisions of RS institutions or bodies.”
This law regulates the establishment, organization, jurisdiction, and authority of the Special Prosecutor’s Office of RS for the protection of the constitutional order of RS and the Special Court of RS for the protection of the constitutional order of RS, as well as other state bodies in RS. It also defines other conditions for the efficient detection and prosecution of perpetrators of criminal offenses determined by this law.
The law specifies which criminal offenses will be prosecuted: attack on the constitutional order of RS, endangering territorial integrity, placing RS in a position of subordination or dependency, murder of representatives of the highest bodies of RS, kidnapping of the highest representatives of RS, armed rebellion, obstructing the fight against the enemy, serving in an enemy army, aiding the enemy, illegal formation of paramilitary and parapolice forces, undermining the defensive capability of RS, sabotage, espionage, disclosure of RS secrets, interference and transfer of armed groups, weapons, and ammunition into the territory of RS, incitement to violently change the constitutional order of RS, assisting a perpetrator after committing a criminal offense against the constitutional order of RS, forming a group or organized criminal group to commit criminal offenses against the constitutional order of RS, disrespect or failure to execute decisions of RS institutions or bodies, and other criminal offenses that directly or indirectly threaten the constitutional order and territorial integrity of RS.
Special Detention Unit
Article 37 also provides for the establishment of a Special Detention Unit.
“In the correctional facility in Banja Luka, a Special Detention Unit is established for the execution of detention measures imposed in criminal proceedings for criminal offenses from Article 3 of this law.
The Minister of Justice, with the approval of the President of the Special Court, shall regulate by rulebook the organization, operation, and treatment of detainees in the Special Detention Unit, in accordance with the Law on Criminal Procedure and the Law on the Execution of Criminal and Misdemeanor Sanctions of Rs,” it states.
Although the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has, through a temporary measure, suspended the disputed laws through which Dodik seeks to strip the competencies of the BiH Prosecutor’s Office and Court, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC), and State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), he has decided to continue his attack on the constitutional and legal order of BiH.
Regarding the aforementioned criminal offenses that will be prosecuted, the question arises as to who the “enemy” in this whole matter is and whether this term actually refers to BiH, which remains above the entity, despite the mention of “subordinate position,” which in reality applies to RS as an entity in relation to the state.
A new constitution today
The NARS is also considering a new constitution today, which contains a series of unconstitutional provisions, i.e., provisions that contradict the Constitution of BiH. This draft constitution further “confirms” the unconstitutional laws previously passed by the NARS, which prohibit the operation of BiH institutions in the RS entity – laws that the BiH Constitutional Court has suspended through a temporary measure prohibiting their implementation, N1 writes.
