Galić criticizes BiH Prosecutor's Office: Out of 24 submitted cases, 11 resulted in non-investigation orders, fate of others unknown

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - A large number of decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina are being implemented, but a significant number, especially decisions related to constitutional protection and having political and legal consequences, have not been implemented for many years - confirmed today to reporters the President of the Constitutional Court of BiH, Valerija Galić.

Galić addressed reporters before the opening of the conference on the topic "Implementation of Constitutional Court Decisions in BiH," which is being held today in Jahorina, where the situation with the non-implementation of final and binding Constitutional Court decisions will be reviewed, and a partnership dialogue will be enabled to offer concrete answers and solutions that could bring progress.

The President of the Constitutional Court of BiH is disappointed with the representatives of the legislative authorities because a small number of them responded to the invitation, as if they did not recognize themselves in the role they have in the area of implementing Constitutional Court decisions.

She stated that the Constitutional Court of BiH has faced numerous problems in the recent period, but regardless of that, they resolved 539 cases in two plenary sessions.

Presenting preliminary data from the annual report on the implementation or non-implementation of Constitutional Court decisions, Galić emphasized that they issued 984 execution orders, and about 80 percent of them relate to the violation of rights within a reasonable time and compensation for non-material damages.

- Five decisions are from constitutional protection and they have not been implemented, for nine decisions from abstract review, it will be proposed to remove them from the list because the solution in seven decisions that ordered execution, the contested law or certain legal provisions have been repealed or the Constitutional Court has determined a different method of execution - she explained.

Execution orders were issued for 676 cases from the appellate jurisdiction, 551 decisions have been executed, for 30 decisions it will be proposed to remove them from the list because the decisions have been partially executed, cannot be executed, or the appellants are preventing their execution.

Of the 67 decisions from the appellate jurisdiction, 61 relate to military apartments, and further action will need to be discussed and coordinated with the Office of the European Court of Human Rights, as execution is subject to the control of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

The total number of decisions received by the Constitutional Court of BiH is around 5,500 cases, and in previous periods, it resolved 5,000 cases within a year and a half, and Galić says that it can be said that a large number of Constitutional Court decisions are being implemented.

She also warned about the actions of the BiH Prosecutor's Office, to which the Constitutional Court has submitted 24 cases from abstract review since 2000 and has made decisions on non-execution, but the BiH Prosecutor's Office has issued orders for non-investigation in 11 cases, while there is no information about the actions taken on the others.

Although, according to Galić, they are exposed to political pressure, the Constitutional Court does not succumb to them and works professionally and makes decisions, but these pressures are also related to the election of two judges, as the competent legislative authorities have not elected judges since August 2022, which is a form of pressure.