Brussels Protocol for Federation is the dismantling of BiH, RS claims it is a step towards abolishing entities

The agreement that the reform of the BiH Law on Courts will be developed based on the version proposed in Brussels by the Minister of Justice of RS, Anton Kasipović, has divided the public in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

For most political parties in the Federation of BiH, this is the dismantling of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the strengthening of the BiH entity, Republika Srpska, while the opposition in RS claims it is another step towards abolishing the powers in RS, writes the news agency Patria.

The Social Democratic Party of BiH (SDP) warned that the Brussels protocol is the dismantling of state judiciary, and that the SDA has capitulated to the anti-Bosnia and Herzegovina policies of Milorad Dodik and Dragan Čović.
This protocol, the SDP further warns, is an unforgivable political move by the SDA that could result in the complete collapse of the state judiciary, and the total disintegration of the legal system of BiH, and subsequently the state itself.

The SDP believes that by signing the protocol in Brussels, the SDA capitulated to the HDZ and SNSD 

The SDA defends itself by stating that the protocol was signed without the prior consent of the Council of Ministers of BiH and the Government of the FBiH, and as such cannot produce any obligations.

On the other hand, the president of the National Democratic Movement (NDP), Dragan Čavić, said that by signing the protocol on the method of reforming the BiH Law on Courts, RS is losing competencies, and BiH is getting another court.

He reminded that the referendum question was actually supposed to lead to the cessation of the validity of the Law on the Court and Prosecutor's Office of BiH in the territory of RS, but the result of the Brussels protocol will be that there will be even more Courts and Prosecutor's Offices of BiH in RS. Čavić claims that the most difficult part of the protocol concerns the reform of the Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH because it abolishes entity competencies for proposing and appointing judges and prosecutors, and it is a clear transfer of competencies from Republika Srpska to the BiH level, reports Patria. 

In Brussels on Friday, it was agreed that the reform of the BiH Law on Courts will be developed based on the version proposed in Brussels by the Ministry of Justice of RS, as well as on the Draft Law on Courts from 2013. This was signed yesterday by the Ministers of Justice of BiH Josip Grubeša, Minister of Justice of the Federation of BiH Mate Jozić, Minister of Justice of Republika Srpska Anton Kasipović, and the President of the Judicial Commission of Brčko District of BiH Safet Pizović, writes NAP.