Bećirović vs. Nikšić: Vukoja does not meet the criteria for the BiH Constitutional Court!

By: A. Čorbo-Zećo

Mirjana Marinković Lepić (Our Party) has scheduled the 4th regular session of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH for July 25, 2023.

The session is convened for a new attempt to appoint HDZ's Marin Vukoja as a judge of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The battle Dragan Čović wants to win is getting its new epilogue.

The general public has been informed by the Trojka that some "expert commission" in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation has chosen Marin Vukoja as the "best candidate" for a judge of the BiH Constitutional Court because he had the "most points".
Sanela Gorušanović Butigan is the "second best candidate" because she had "half a point less".

However, what stirred up the public this morning and sparked the curiosity of those interested is the stance of Denis Bećirović, who, despite the lobbying of the Trojka leaders, maintained that all procedures must be followed in this case. According to Patria's findings, the leaders of the Trojka visited the Presidency building last week, trying to 'soften up' Bećirović to support Vukoja's appointment.

In an interview with Klix, he presented completely opposing views to those of his party leader Nermin Nikšić, who has repeatedly publicly confirmed that he will support Vukoja, hiding behind the already iconic remark 'The SDA also did the same'.

“Regarding the election of a judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH from the BiH entity FBiH, I believe that the bad political practice of electing party officials to the Constitutional Court of BiH should be stopped. The election of judges to the Constitutional Court of BiH must not be a subject of political bargaining between different parties.

The procedures carried out so far, concerning the determination of the list of the most successful candidates for the election of one judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH from the BiH entity FBiH, indicate actions that are not in accordance with the basic criteria for the election of judges of the Constitutional Court of BiH.

Namely, according to the information available to the public, the list of the most successful candidates includes a person for whom the Commission for determining the list of the most successful candidates has not provided adequate evidence from which it could be concluded that the proposed candidate (among more than ten other candidates, including current judges, professors and doctors of law, proven legal practitioners and other distinguished lawyers) belongs to the ranks of prominent lawyers of high moral standing.

Conversely, on the list of successful candidates, below the top-ranked candidate, the Commission of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of FBiH has ranked numerous other lawyers who, according to the criteria and standards of the legal profession and science, legal practice, and even constitutional court practice, prima facie, deserved to be ranked better than the top-ranked candidate for the judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH.

The only reasonable solution based on the BiH Constitution is the return of independence, expertise, and transparency to the process of electing judges of the Constitutional Court of BiH and the consistent respect of the constitutional criteria of the legal profession and science,” Bećirović stated for Klix.

Given that there are also representatives close to Bećirović, not Nikšić, in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of FBiH, Vukoja's appointment, after such a decisive stance by the member of the BiH Presidency, could still remain a subject of dispute.

Marin Vukoja graduated in 1998 from the Faculty of Law in Mostar. He passed the bar exam only in 2007. He spent his entire professional career in public service. He was an expert associate in the Expert Service and later head of department in the Assembly of the West Herzegovina Canton.

After that, he held the position of secretary of the Government of the West Herzegovina Canton. He came to the state level of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2015 when he became secretary of the House of Peoples, and from 2017 he moved to the position of secretary of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Of his political engagement, it is worth noting that Marin Vukoja was an HDZ candidate for delegate to the state House of Peoples.

Sanela Gorušanović Butigan graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Sarajevo in 1998. After completing her internship at the Municipal Court in Sarajevo, she immediately passed the bar exam.

She worked as a judicial expert associate (also a judicial position) from passing the bar exam until her appointment as a judge of the Municipal Court in Sarajevo in 2007 – civil department. Also, Judge Gorušanović Butigan holds the position of judge in the land registry office of the Municipal Court in Sarajevo.

As a respected and accomplished member of the judicial community, in June 2020, she was elected a member and vice-president of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the last report in which she participated before her election to the HJPC BiH, Judge Gorušanović Butigan achieved 110.85% of the set case norm, meaning she resolved 298 cases. That is 298 judgments written in one calendar year. From 2001, when she was appointed as an expert judicial associate until today, if she wrote 200 judgments every year, it would be more than 5,000 written judgments and completed cases to date.

Judge Gorušanović Butigan has made a personal and professional contribution to the judicial and academic community through her participation and lectures at numerous domestic and international seminars and consultations.