Dodik's hopes before the Constitutional Court of BiH, which he also challenged and for which he ended up on the defendant's bench

(Patria) - The legal team of the finally convicted president of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, will file an appeal with the Constitutional Court of BiH and request a temporary measure to postpone the execution of the sentence until a final decision by the Constitutional Court of BiH on the appeal.

Dodik was precisely charged because, contrary to the decision of the High Representative, he signed decrees on the promulgation of the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Publication of Laws and Other Regulations of Republika Srpska, adopted by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska at the session held on June 21, 2023, and on the promulgation of the Law on Non-application of Decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which were subsequently published in the Official Gazette of Republika Srpska.

And now Dodik is addressing the same Constitutional Court of BiH, which has no judges from Republika Srpska because Dodik refused to have the National Assembly of Republika Srpska appoint two judges.

Dodik's lawyer, Goran Bubić, stated that they will also address the European Court of Human Rights. However, according to the practice of the Court in Strasbourg, the appellant must first exhaust domestic legal remedies.

According to the indictment, Milorad Dodik and Miloš Lukić were charged that in the period from July 1, 2023, to July 9, 2023, in Banja Luka, being aware and knowing that the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt, had made a Decision preventing the entry into force of the Law on Non-application of Decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina from July 1, 2023, which the National Assembly of Republika Srpska adopted at the Eighth Special Session held on June 27, 2023, and the Decision preventing the entry into force of the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Publication of Laws and Other Regulations of Republika Srpska from July 1, 2023, adopted by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska at the Seventh Special Session held on June 21, 2023, with which they were previously acquainted and, contrary to that, undertook official actions in order to continue the legislative procedure, without applying and implementing the said decisions of the High Representative in BiH. The accused Milorad Dodik is charged that, as an official in an institution of Republika Srpska, in his capacity as President of Republika Srpska, although he was aware that the decisions of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina are binding, in accordance with the authorities granted to him by Article V of Annex 10 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Article II 1. d) of the said Agreement, he issued a decree promulgating the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Publication of Laws and Other Regulations of Republika Srpska of July 7, 2023, by personally signing it, thereby not applying and implementing the Decision of the High Representative Christian Schmidt.

The accused Miloš Lukić is charged that, as an official in Republika Srpska, who was appointed acting director of the Public Institution Official Gazette of Republika Srpska by the decision of the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska on July 8, 2023, the very next day, July 9, 2023, in that capacity, using the powers of the director of that institution, he signed the form SG 32 of the Official Gazette of Republika Srpska, number: 60/23 of July 9, 2023, thereby enabling the procedure for publishing the Decree on the Promulgation of the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Publication of Laws and Other Regulations of Republika Srpska adopted by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska and the Decree on the Promulgation of the Law on Non-application of Decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which were subsequently published in the Official Gazette of Republika Srpska.

Lukić was acquitted in this court proceeding, while Dodik's first-instance sentence of one year in prison and a ban from holding office for six (6) years was confirmed.

At this moment, the Constitutional Court of BiH has seven judges: four domestic and three foreign judges: Mirsad Ćeman, Valerija Galić, Angelika Nussberger, Helen Keller, Ledi Bianku, Marin Vukoja, and Larisa Velić.

Since the formation of the new coalition consisting of SNSD, HDZ, and the Trojka parties, Dodik has insisted that foreign judges be replaced by domestic ones in the Constitutional Court of BiH, who would be elected by the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH. However, this issue has never been seriously considered, although he had like-minded individuals in the HDZ. Parties from the Trojka have stated that this can only be discussed when BiH is on the verge of joining the European Union.