Bećirović: Attack on the Constitutional Court is a blow to the foundations of the Dayton Agreement

(Patria) - Regarding the adoption of anti-Dayton and anti-constitutional conclusions in the National Assembly of the BiH entity RS, at the initiative of the president of the BiH entity, Milorad Dodik, member of the BiH Presidency Denis Bećirović stated in his reaction that the composition of the Constitutional Court of BiH is regulated by Article VI/1 of the Constitution of BiH.

"Ultimately, a judge acts in the Constitutional Court of BiH in a personal capacity, not in the capacity of a representative of an entity or any other subject. Before taking office, each elected judge signed a solemn declaration by which they committed to adhering to the Constitution and laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the performance of their duties as a judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH, and to perform the duties of a judge conscientiously and impartially. Given all of the above, it is the obligation of the judges of the Constitutional Court of BiH to remain consistent with their convictions and to honorably protect the profession to which they belong.

As one of the two Bosnian-Herzegovinian entities, RS is not authorized to unilaterally regulate areas that fall under the jurisdiction of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this regard, any regulation of the work of the Constitutional Court of BiH, contrary to the valid constitutional provisions, represents a serious form of unconstitutional action.

The status, composition, and jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court of BiH are regulated by the Constitution of BiH, not by entity acts. Constitutional provisions stipulate that the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH are final and binding. Given the above, the issue of the composition of the Constitutional Court of BiH cannot be regulated at the entity level.

According to Article 239 of the Criminal Code of BiH: "An official in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the institutions of an entity, or the institutions of Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who refuses to execute a final and binding decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH, the Court of BiH, the Human Rights Chamber, or the European Court of Human Rights, or prevents such a decision from being executed, or otherwise hinders its execution, shall be punished with imprisonment from six months to five years.".

The Constitutional Court of BiH is established by Article VI of the Constitution of BiH as the independent guardian of the Constitution and as the institutional guarantor for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms established by the Constitution of BiH and the instruments of Annex I of the Constitution of BiH. The Constitutional Court of BiH is not part of the legislative or executive branch, but is positioned by the Constitution of BiH as a separate, independent authority.

Taking into account the special position and role that the Constitutional Court of BiH has in the Constitution of BiH, which impose the obligation to ensure its independence, including full financial and administrative independence and autonomy, it is unacceptable for any judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH to respond to the call of non-competent entity authorities.

The adopted conclusion of the National Assembly of RS, in which judges of the Constitutional Court of BiH from among the Serb people are called upon to resign from their positions as judges of the Constitutional Court of BiH, represents an immeasurably dangerous attempt to copy the unconstitutional methods used in 1992 by the finally convicted war criminal Radovan Karadžić," stated Bećirović.