SDA Collegium on Dodik, Ivanić, Govedarica

The SDA Collegium, at its session, adopted conclusions stating that the SDA will not accept the Bill on the Constitutional Court of BiH announced by SNSD, which excludes foreign judges from the Constitutional Court of BiH or changes the decision-making process in that court, without changes being made to the entire constitutional structure of BiH related to the competencies of various levels of government and the decision-making process, Patria reports.

Changes only to the Constitutional Court without other changes would lead to a gross violation of the balance established by the Dayton Peace Agreement.

The SDA Collegium rejects as tendentious and arbitrary the statement by the Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, Mladen Ivanić, that the condition for BiH's candidate status is the closure of the OHR and the departure of foreign judges from the Constitutional Court of BiH.

The SDA is committed to reforming the justice sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the aim of building an efficient, well-managed, and coordinated justice system in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is accountable to all citizens, fully aligned with EU standards, and which guarantees the equality of all citizens before the law and the rule of law in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The initiative to discuss this in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH is legitimate. However, the ultimatum by the president of SDS, Vukota Govedarica, that if the debate on this issue is not held in the BiH Parliament, SDS will initiate a referendum in RS on BiH's judiciary, is unacceptable.

The SDA will resolutely oppose any attempt to turn the reform of the justice sector into a means of dismantling, weakening, or destroying the judicial institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.