It is not yet known when the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina will decide on the termination of Milorad Dodik’s term as President of Republika Srpska, which is responsible for this after the second-instance verdict of the Court of BiH. The Collegium, which will decide on the date of the CEC session, should meet early next week. Former judge and professor of constitutional law Milan Blagojević says that according to the Criminal Code of BiH, Dodik is no longer the President of Republika Srpska. However, it is obvious that the implementation of the verdict will take time.
According to the Law on the Execution of Criminal Sanctions, after the verdict becomes final, a convicted person receives a referral act on the basis of which he is sent to serve his prison sentence.
ILIJAS MIDŽIĆ, lawyer and former member of the HJPC of BiH
“He has the right to request a postponement of the execution of his prison sentence in the event that he proves that he has an illness that requires urgent treatment, or to provide for his family, to carry out urgent tasks by providing for his family while serving his prison sentence, so that they do not lack for anything.”
By disobeying the Court of BiH ruling, he would commit a new criminal offense, failure to enforce court decisions, which would trigger new legal proceedings. Dodik can seek to redeem his sentence in order to avoid going to prison.
ILIJAS MIDŽIĆ, lawyer and former member of the HJPC of BiH
“Then he must submit a request to the Court to be approved. In that case, the sentence is served by paying a one-time payment of 100 BAM per day to the BiH budget, which amounts to about 36,000 BAM in a year.”
The Central Election Commission of BiH makes a decision to terminate Dodik’s mandate as President of Republika Srpska, after receiving notification of the finality of the ruling. The notification from the Court of BiH arrived on the same day that the finality of the ruling was confirmed, but they did not specify when Dodik’s mandate would be revoked. Early elections should be called within 90 days of the termination of his mandate.
IRENA HADŽIABDIC, President of the CEC of BiH
“The CEC of BiH will first consider all further procedures at the Collegium, and then adopt relevant decisions at the session.”
Dodik stated that he would not allow early elections in Republika Srpska, but after the removal of the mandate, the convicted person has no effective power, must leave official premises and becomes an ordinary citizen, explains lawyer Midzic. Dodik’s defense announced that it will challenge the final verdict before the Constitutional Court of BiH. Although the Constitution of BiH allows for this possibility, one thing is indisputable – a final verdict must be implemented.
MILOŠ DAVIDOVIĆ, lawyer, Faculty of Law, UNSA
“So, if this is a special jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court that relates to the protection of human rights and freedoms, who may have violated a certain public authority. In this case, it would potentially be the Court of BiH. In this case, we have a deadline of 60 days from the moment of receiving the last decision, which is a final verdict of the Appellate Panel of the Court of BiH for filing an appeal.”
Let us recall that on August 1, Milorad Dodik, the President of Republika Srpska, was sentenced to one year in prison and a six-year ban on political activity for disrespecting the decisions of the High Representative in BiH, BHRT writes.
