Bećirović: If the National Assembly of Republika Srpska does not back down, and the Prosecutor's Office and OHR do nothing, I will file an appeal against the law on state property

SARAJevo, (Patria) - Regarding the re-inclusion of the Draft Law on Immovable Property Used for the Functioning of Public Authorities on the agenda of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denis Bećirović, pointed out, among other things, several facts related to this entire issue.

"According to the content of the proposed Law, it is the same legal act that was subject to a constitutionality assessment in case number: U-10/22, of September 22, 2022, in which the Constitutional Court of BiH made a Decision on Admissibility and Merits, which establishes: that Republika Srpska does not have the constitutional jurisdiction to regulate the legal matter that is the subject of the Law on Immovable Property Used for the Functioning of Public Authorities, 'Official Gazette of Republika Srpska' number: 29/22, because, in accordance with Article I/1, Article III/3.b) and Article IV/4.e) of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is within the jurisdiction of Bosnia and Herzegovina. With the same decision, the Constitutional Court of BiH, in accordance with Article 61, paragraph (2) of the Rules of the Constitutional Court, annulled the Law on Immovable Property Used for the Functioning of Public Authorities, and according to Article 61, paragraph 3 of the Rules of the Constitutional Court of BiH, the Court decided that the unconstitutional Law on Immovable Property Used for the Functioning of Public Authorities ceases to be valid on the day following the publication of the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH in the 'Official Gazette of BiH'. The same Decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH was also published in the official gazettes of the entities Republika Srpska, the Federation of BiH, and Brčko District of BiH," states Bećirović.

He adds that according to available information from the field, immovable property that is being unconstitutionally re-regulated by unconstitutional laws of the BiH entity Republika Srpska, in some local self-government units is unconstitutionally and illegally registered in favor of entity institutions, local self-government units, public enterprises, and public institutions founded by this entity, which represents a blatant violation of the Constitution of BiH, the Agreement on Succession Issues of the Republics of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 2001, according to which all immovable property is registered as state property, then, the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH, as well as the Dayton Peace Agreement, according to which the regulation of state property is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the state institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"Given that this is a repeated attempt to adopt the same, unconstitutional Law, i.e., a continuous violation of the Constitution of BiH and the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH by the entity authorities of Republika Srpska (in the same way, the Constitutional Court of BiH, with its decisions, established the unconstitutionality of the Law on the Status of State Property in 2012, certain articles of the Law on Agricultural Land and the Law on Inland Navigation in 2020, as well as the Law on Forests in 2021, which were declared unconstitutional and annulled), I hereby call upon:

• The National Assembly of Republika Srpska to reject the Draft Law on Immovable Property Used for the Functioning of Public Authorities, from December 2022, as unconstitutional and without legal basis for its adoption;
• If the National Assembly of Republika Srpska nevertheless adopts the proposal of this unconstitutional Law, I call upon the competent institutions and law enforcement agencies to act in accordance with their jurisdictions;
• The Prosecutor's Office of BiH to, within its jurisdiction, initiate proceedings against all responsible persons for non-implementation of the final and binding decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and violation of the Constitution of BiH;
• The OHR - Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina to, within its jurisdiction, in this specific case, take measures to ensure the implementation of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH, as well as to prevent the continuous violation of the Constitution of BiH.

Finally, I emphasize that, as a member of the BiH Presidency, I will also file an appeal to the Constitutional Court of BiH in the event that the incompetent entity legislative body adopts the unconstitutional Law on Immovable Property," Bećirović stated.