Milenko Kreća: Alija Izetbegović could have filed a lawsuit against Serbia himself in 1993

The request for a revision of the International Court of Justice's decision on the lawsuit against Serbia cannot be filed by either Bakir Izetbegović or Sakib Softić, as they lack the legal legitimacy to sign such a request, claims Milenko Kreća, a long-time judge of the International Court of Justice, in an interview with Politika, reports Patria.

He pointed out that Softić is not the legal representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina in this case, as his authority as Sarajevo's agent expired in 2007, when the court in The Hague delivered its verdict in this dispute.

Kreća explained that "they are making a legal mistake from the start," because according to the court's rules, the revision procedure is considered a new procedure in which BiH should appoint its agent in the request to the court for revision and possibly an ad hoc judge as BiH's representative in the Judicial Council.

He noted that, according to the court's rules, a request signed by Sakib Softić would be considered a submission by a private individual, and in that case, the court would not even be convened.

"Almost certainly, in this case, the registrar of the International Court of Justice will, by administrative act, state that the conditions stipulated by the court's statute, necessary for submitting a request for revision, have not been met," Kreća told Politika.

He explains that, according to the court's rules, a request for revision can be filed by any body authorized by general international law to represent the state in international relations, which means the head of state, head of government, and minister of foreign affairs.

"In the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the government has fewer powers than those that international law by definition gives to a government. The Presidency is the real state body there, and it, according to the court's rules, could file a request for revision, but the Presidency is a collective body, decisions are made as a whole, one negative vote is enough for there to be no decision," says Kreća.

He recalled that in the dispute between BiH and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1993, Alija Izetbegović himself, as the President of the Presidency, filed the lawsuit.

"That was a different time, Yugoslavia did not enjoy the sympathy of the international community, so the court, although it was evident that Izetbegović lacked legitimacy, found a solution by sending a letter to the UN asking how the UN treated Alija Izetbegović," said Kreća.

He stated that the Assistant Secretary-General of the UN for Legal Affairs replied that the UN treated Alija Izetbegović as the "head of state".

Kreća pointed out that, "if they were to invoke the precedent from 1993, only the Chairman of the Presidency could do so, and currently, that is Mladen Ivanić".

"The Presidency, unless it decides otherwise, represents abroad through the Chairman of the Presidency, which means that Izetbegović, since he is only a member of the Presidency, cannot initiate proceedings even by invoking that precedent, Kreća is categorical."