The draft law on the non-application of decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in the Republika Srpska (RS) can be stopped by the Constitutional Court of that entity, the Constitutional Court of BiH, or the Office of the High Representative (OHR) of the International Community in BiH.
According to the entity law, which the National Assembly of RS (NARS) adopted on July 27th, the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH will not be applied and executed on the territory of the RS until the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH (PABiH) passes the Law on the Constitutional Court.
Representatives from the Federation of BiH (FBiH) and the international community assessed that it was an “attack on the Dayton Peace Agreement and the Constitution of BiH”, with the exception of Russia, which supported that law.
Can the Constitutional Court of the RS repeal the law?
Every bill that is adopted in the NARS must, according to the procedure, be passed by the Council of Peoples of the RS. This second parliamentary house consists of 28 delegates who are indirectly elected in the NARS after the general elections.
The Council of Peoples of the RS is considering whether the “vital national interest” has been violated by the proposed law. These are, among other things, the language and identity of the people and “other issues if two-thirds of the caucus of the constituent peoples in the Council of the Peoples of the RS consider so. The caucus of Others cannot veto.
It then goes to the joint commission of the NARS and the Council of Peoples of the RS. The bill is then referred to the Constitutional Court of the RS.
Schmidt announced “consequences for secessionists”
Schmidt said on June 7th that those who play with the secession of RS will “suffer the consequences of the international community”.
Political representatives from RS, as well as Russia and China, reject the legitimacy of Schmidt. The NARS also adopted a bill according to which Schmidt’s decisions will not be implemented on the territory of the RS, Slobodna Evropa reports.
E.Dz.
