HDZ tries to push Monika Mijić into the Constitutional Court of the FBiH: Bradara submitted a candidate list over two years old to the House of Peoples

(Patria) - President of the FBiH Lidija Bradara submitted to the House of Peoples of the FBiH a list of candidates for the election of a judge of the Constitutional Court of the FBiH that is over two years old, from the time of the mandate of the former President of the FBiH Marinko Čavara, which includes Monika Mijić, the current acting agent of Bosnia and Herzegovina before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

According to the provisions of the Constitution of the FBiH, judges of the Constitutional Court of the FBiH are confirmed by the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the FBiH, following appointment by the President of the FBiH, who must have the consent of the two Vice Presidents, and from the list of candidates established by the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH.

If there is consent, the House of Peoples decides only on that one candidate; if there is no consent, the House of Peoples decides among the list of candidates previously evaluated by the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH.

The competition procedure regarding the then election of a judge of the Constitutional Court of the FBiH was conducted on August 11, 2022. Subsequently, the proposal of candidates for the Constitutional Court of the FBiH was adopted at the session of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH on December 22, 2022.

A month later, Čavara made a decision on the appointment of a judge of the Constitutional Court of the FBiH, but did not obtain the consent of the then Vice Presidents of the FBiH.



The top three ranked on the list of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council were Jasminka Džumhur, Monika Mijić, and Senad Osmić, who were rated "excellent." Rated "very good" were Boris Barun, Tanja Hadžagić, Izmir Hadžiavdić, Željko Škarica, and Samir Zuparević.



The list that was not forwarded by Čavara was forwarded by Bradara to the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the FBiH, and a vote on it will take place at the next session.

In an interview with Istraga.ba, former Vice President of the FBiH Milan Dunović said that the motive was probably that Monika Mijić is on the list.

- This is a competition that is at least two years old. Since the Constitutional Court of the Federation, unlike the state Constitutional Court, has a prescribed ethnic quota, two Bosniaks, two Serbs, two Croats, one Other, and two more judges who can be from any ethnic group, for two it is not specified - said Dunović.

He assesses that the issue is that - when you propose a list of candidates from a competition two years old, you are actually discriminating because someone two years ago might not have met the conditions with their work experience, but now they do.

According to him, it is also problematic that someone might not have applied for the competition two years ago because they did not meet the conditions in terms of ethnic affiliation, but now they do, for example, because it is a different vacant position.

In addition, Bradara appointed Slaviša Bjelogrlić, the current advisor to the High Representative Christian Schmidt, as a judge of the Constitutional Court of the FBiH for another vacant position, but did not obtain the consent of Vice Presidents Refik Lendo and Igor Stojanović.

Ultimately, she sent the list of candidates to the House of Peoples of the FBiH, which will make the final decision.