Debate Concluded on SDS and SNSD Proposal for the Constitutional Court and Criminal Code

The debate on the Proposal for Amendments to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the session of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina has concluded, as has the heated debate on the Proposal for the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e., the negative opinion of the Constitutional and Legal Commission of this House on the constitutional basis and principles of these laws, reports a reporter from the Patria news agency.

As during the debate on the Proposal for Amendments to the Criminal Code, deputies from SNSD and SDS justified the need to adopt this law, i.e., to reject the negative opinion of the Commission. Parties from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina had already announced earlier that they do not support the adoption of this law, the essence of which is replacing foreign judges in the Constitutional Court with domestic ones, thereby introducing entity voting in this judicial institution. The Criminal Code, on the other hand, seeks to delete the article that stipulates punishment for non-compliance with decisions of the Constitutional Court, with a prison sentence prescribed.

Dušanka Majkić (SNSD) stated that she was unpleasantly surprised by the negative opinion of the commission.

- This is something that is difficult to understand if one knows that the Criminal Code was imposed by the High Representative. We can talk about principles, but the essence of the law is to propose the deletion of the article that states that an official in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina who refuses to execute a court decision is sanctioned with a prison sentence. Few countries have such a legal solution. The highest number of unexecuted court decisions is among those who are now fighting for this - Majkić emphasized.

Zaim Backović, a deputy of BPS in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that it is not true that Bosnia and Herzegovina is unique in punishing non-execution of court decisions with a prison sentence. The proposers did not want to merge these two agenda items.

Sadik Ahmetović (SDA) told Dušanka Majkić that not all deputies from the Republika Srpska think as she does, because he comes from the Republika Srpska.

- You do not see others and thus pass laws, and then the Constitutional Court must intervene. To make the problem bigger, you say that other countries do not have this. Name any country where one part of the country does not respect the decisions of the Constitutional Court; if there is even one country, I will change my opinion - Ahmetović said.

Majkić said that she meant to say that nowhere in the world does such a method of sanctioning exist.

Aleksandra Pandurević (SDS) said that this could be the beginning of a dialogue in which the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina could be discussed.