Mehmedović: Bunoza proposed anti-European and anti-constitutional laws on HJPC and Court of BiH

(Patria) - The draft law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina is on the agenda of tomorrow's session of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its proposer is the state Minister of Justice Davor Bunoza, an HDZ minister, who does not propose so-called "European laws" in accordance with European standards, but is exclusively interested in them being essentially acceptable to strategic partners HDZ and SNSD, says state representative Šemsudin Mehmedović in his reaction.

"The proposed Law on the HJPC deviates from most of the remarks of the Venice Commission, and more importantly, it violates the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, because Article 4, Paragraph 5 of the Draft stipulates that the composition of the HJPC Council shall, as a rule, reflect the ethnic composition of Bosnia and Herzegovina in accordance with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, stating that there must be at least four members from each constituent people and one from the others in the Council.

It is undisputed that this provision of the Draft Law is not in line with Article IX, Paragraph 3 of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which clearly states: "Officials appointed to positions in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall, as a rule, reflect the ethnic composition of Bosnia and Herzegovina". The ethnic composition of Bosnia and Herzegovina is as follows: Bosniaks 50.11%, Serbs 30.78%, Croats 15.43%, and Others 3.68%.

Given the above, it is clear that out of 20 members of the Council, if ethnic quotas for the members of the HJPC Council are established, the composition of the Council must be as follows: 10 Bosniaks, 6 Serbs, 3 Croats, and one other," states Mehmedović.

He further adds that Minister Bunoza is aware of this provision of the Constitution, as well as the decision of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the case "Ljubić" of December 1, 2016, which established: "In addition to the above, from the aforementioned provisions of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it follows that the constituent assembly established proportional representation of Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats as constituent peoples in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina" (p.
21), but he still proposed an unconstitutional law.

"The Venice Commission, in its opinion, stated that it opposes ethnic quotas for members of the HJPC Council. Since Minister Bunoza has nevertheless opted for the law to provide for ethnic quotas, then these quotas must be in line with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the constitutional principle of proportional representation.

The draft law on amendments to the Law on the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is also on the agenda of the Council of Ministers tomorrow, which has been kept secret from the public for months and, according to unofficial information, provides for a significant reduction in the jurisdiction of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the wishes of HDZ and SNSD.

"Proposing these two essentially important laws for the judiciary and the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina in this manner and with the request for their adoption under an urgent procedure is a classic example of blackmail by HDZ and SNSD. Something similar happened with the recent adoption of the Budget of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from which seven extremely important state cultural institutions and BHRT were excluded.

The intention of SNSD and HDZ to create public pressure and impose the opinion that if someone is against such perverted laws, they are also against the European path, which is a blatant untruth, is obvious. The public must know that in the past three years, only laws proposed by SNSD and HDZ ministers have been adopted, and not a single law proposed by the Trojka ministers, i.e., four ministers in the Council of Ministers, has been adopted, because the long-term strategic partners Milorad Dodik and Dragan Čović do not allow it.

I call on the ministers in the Council of Ministers not to support such unconstitutional and anti-European laws, and to submit legislative solutions that are fully in line with the legislation of the European Union to the parliamentary procedure," concluded Mehmedović.