Bunoza did not accept the Venice Commission's opinion, ethnic principle prioritized over expertise, HJPC does not have the final version

(Patria) - The Draft Law on the HJPC and amendments to the Law on the BiH Court are expected to be on the agenda of the BiH Council of Ministers early next week, after the BiH Council of Ministers' session was not held on Tuesday.

At the same time, the clubs of the Trojka parties propose that the laws be considered by the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament as proposed by the deputies, meaning not to wait for the Council of Ministers any longer.

What caused the reaction of SNSD ministers yesterday not to support the agenda is the fact that the Law on the HJPC was delivered to them yesterday at 9 AM and that it is an unharmonized proposal. The draft law has 245 articles with additional explanation from the BiH Ministry of Justice and the opinion of the Directorate for European Integration.

On the other hand, the HJPC adopted several remarks on the draft law at its session last week, and it is still unknown whether they have been incorporated into the Draft Law, given that the HJPC has not received the final version.

The BiH Ministry of Justice, headed by Davor Bunoza (HDZ BiH), claims that the Draft is largely harmonized with the recommendations that the Venice Commission gave to the previous text, but Bunoza confirmed in yesterday's address to the media that there are still conflicting opinions regarding the text of the law.

The Draft Law on the HJPC, which Patria has seen, dated December 1, 2025, provides for the mandatory ethnic structure of the HJPC composition, with twenty members: four members from each constituent nation and two from the other, and at least eight members of one gender. Thus, the HJPC will consist of eight judges, eight prosecutors, and four members who are not from the judiciary.

In the European Commission's opinion, the primary principle for electing HJPC members is expertise, not ethnic structure, while this Draft prioritizes the national structure of the HJPC. The Directorate for European Integration also warns about this.

Compared to previous proposals for the Law on the HJPC, in this version that will be considered by the BiH Council of Ministers, one member is elected by the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament, as is the case in the current law. In a previous version of the law, the Ministry of Justice proposed that one member be elected by both houses of the BiH Parliament with a two-thirds majority, which is not even required when amending the BiH Constitution.

A person who has already been a member of the HJPC twice, or who has been dismissed from duty, or a judge or prosecutor whose four-year period from the end of their previous term on the Council has not expired, cannot be elected as a member of the HJPC. The draft law stipulates that an HJPC member has a five-year term and cannot be elected for consecutive terms.

Verification of asset and interest reports of elected Council members precedes taking office in the Council, and they can only assume their mandate if the verification result is positive. If the report is negative, the election of the HJPC member is annulled.

Regarding disciplinary proceedings initiated before the application of this law, they will be conducted according to the rules that were in force at the time the disciplinary complaint was filed.

Given the large number of remarks on this Draft, the minister's explanation that it can possibly be "improved" in the parliamentary procedure cannot be accepted by either the ministers or the deputies and delegates of the BiH Parliament.