NIP: We expect a reaction from the High Representative as well as a new appeal to the Constitutional Court of BiH

(Patria) - The National Assembly of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian entity of RS will consider a new Bill on immovable property used for the functioning of public authorities, and on this occasion, People and Justice are calling for a reaction from the High Representative as well as a new appeal to the Constitutional Court of BiH, which has already declared such a law null and void.

People and Justice remind that this Law regulates the issue of ownership, not the use of property, and specifically property that entities of RS and local self-government units in RS are already using and with which they currently have no problem regarding its use.

“The purpose of the Law is to acquire ownership rights over state property, not to resolve the needs for the use of that property by bodies and institutions in the RS entity. The Government of RS proposes that the National Assembly of RS adopt a Law that is not within the jurisdiction of the RS entity, because the holder of state property is Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the exclusive jurisdiction for adopting laws regulating this issue lies with the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as stated in the Decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH U1/11“, reads the statement from People and Justice.

The position of People and Justice is that no entity can pass laws regarding state property in accordance with the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH, the Decisions of the High Representative on the Law on Temporary Prohibition of Disposal from 2005 and its amendments from 2022, until a state law on the management and use of state property is adopted.

“This Bill formally and legally denies the BiH Constitution because it denies Article 1 on the continuity of Bosnia and Herzegovina by proposing to act on the matter in question - state property - in accordance with land registry records as of December 31, 1991, and after the signing of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH (Dayton Agreement). The Bill denies the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH on regulating state property, as well as the recommendations of the Constitutional Court of BiH itself. Although the explanation refers to the positions of the Constitutional Court of BiH, the Government of RS, in its Bill, does not adhere in any way to the provisions of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH“, the statement says.

People and Justice believe that the High Representative should annul this Bill so that harmful consequences for the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina do not arise, both in terms of the confiscation of property categorized as "original revenues" and in terms of international obligations in the EU and NATO integration processes.

Furthermore, authorized persons in BiH institutions should file an appeal with the Constitutional Court of BiH requesting a temporary measure to stop all negative consequences of adopting such a law, it is stated at the end of the People and Justice statement.