Bosniak Club Leaves Session of the House of Peoples of BiH Parliament Over Constitutional Court, Džaferović Says 'We Are Protecting the Foundations of BiH'

(Patria) - With votes from the Serb Club and the Croat Club (except for Zlatko Miletić), the proposal for the Law on the Constitutional Court of BiH by delegate Želimir Nešković (SDS) was included on the agenda of the House of Peoples session. This proposal envisages replacing judges elected by the President of the European Court of Human Rights, with the House of Representatives of the Federation of BiH electing two judges, and the National Assembly of Republika Srpska electing one judge who will take over the function from the current three foreign judges.

Following this, the head of the Bosniak Club, Šefik Džaferović, requested a five-minute break, after which he informed the House of Peoples that the Bosniak Club was leaving the session.

"We do not want such risks and to be left to wait. It would be dangerous for such a law to be accepted by one house. This is a law that strikes at the foundations of BiH. We do not want to participate in this and we are protecting the foundations of BiH. Our response is to leave the session of the House of Peoples," said Džaferović.

Due to the lack of a quorum, Kemal Ademović interrupted today's session.

How the discussion unfolded

Delegate Šefik Džaferović (SDA) stated that they have been hostages of colleague Želimir Nešković for months.

"A delegate takes an oath that includes the obligation to respect the Constitution of BiH and the full implementation of the Peace Agreement for BiH. Being a delegate and a representative means being responsible, which means that what you propose and do is in accordance with the Constitution. This law proposed by Nešković deeply deviates from the Constitution. Our Constitution recognizes a Constitutional Court that has a higher degree of autonomy than others because the Constitution has given it the authority to prescribe its own rules. This parliament cannot resolve these issues by law without first changing the Constitution of BiH. Our Constitutional Court, with its current position, is autonomous and its structure is prescribed. Since the law is proposed under an urgent procedure, we are putting ourselves in a position to participate in a discussion about something that is completely contrary to the Constitution and leads to the disintegration of BiH," said Džaferović.

He stated that if this solution were adopted, it would mean that every level of government could make any decision it wanted, and the Constitutional Court, due to the proposed decision-making method, would not be able to react to it.

The Speaker of the House of Peoples, Kemal Ademović, initially said that he would not even consider putting such a law on the agenda, but Nikola Špirić reacted, stating that delegate Nešković had used his procedural right to propose an agenda item.

“No one here came to tear BiH apart. We did not have a consensus even in the Collegium, but I ask the House to declare itself. Procedurally, we must move forward from this because it will be the delegate's right to discuss it every time,” said Špirić.

Kemal Ademović stated that this proposal had already been voted on once and that the proposal was rejected during 2023.

“This proposed law does not fulfill the basic requirement of the Rules of Procedure. That it is a simple law and can be adopted urgently. I will prepare a proposal for a conclusion to amend the Rules of Procedure so that such things do not happen again. I will put the proposal to a vote, and of course, I will be against it,” said Ademović.

Džaferović stated that the Bosniak Club would leave the session but that they could not listen to a discussion about undermining the state.

“What you are doing is a blow to the foundation of the system. You cannot remove one part of the balance and leave the other. Let's talk about entity voting then. For more than half a year, we have been hostages, talking for two hours. I thought it was a political battle between SDS and SNSD, but this is something deeper,” said Džaferović.

Ademović stated that Nešković's proposal is “grossly contrary to the Constitution of BiH”.

“The possibility of a different method of election has been left open, not the exclusion of foreign judges,” said Ademović.

Marina Pendeš (HDZ) stated that she supported BiH by voting in the referendum on February 29, 1992, and that she has the right to determine whether an item will be part of the agenda, but the question is how she will vote on the law itself.