Judiciary Turns Its Back on Dodik: Supreme Court of RS Appoints Obren Bužanin as Member of HJPC BiH

(Patria) - The Supreme Court of RS has appointed a new member to the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) of BiH who will replace Ljiljana Bošnjak-Glizijan, a judge of that court who resigned from the HJPC after the RS adopted the law on the HJPC of RS and laws prohibiting the operation of several state institutions in the territory of that entity.

The judges of the Supreme Court, as Istraga.ba has learned, elected Obren Bužanin as the new member of the HJPC of BiH, and he is expected to take office soon.

Bužanin was also a member of the HJPC of BiH twelve years ago, where he also represented judicial institutions from Republika Srpska. During that period, he actively worked on dismantling the HJPC.

Judge Ljiljana Bošnjak-Glizijan left her position as a member of the HJPC of BiH on April 1st of this year. Although she cited personal reasons in her explanation, sources from the HJPC claimed that the resignation followed pressure from officials of the ruling SNSD.

As a reminder, the Government of RS adopted a decree at the beginning of March according to which all employees of the Court of BiH, the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, SIPA, and the HJPC of BiH originating from the smaller BiH entity were to withdraw from these institutions on March 19th and transfer to entity institutions. RS leaders also announced sanctions for those who did not comply with this decree.

Before that, at the end of February 2025, the National Assembly of RS adopted the Law on the HJPC of RS, which effectively removed the competencies of the state HJPC.

At the end of May this year, the Constitutional Court of BiH, by decision number U-8/25, annulled the Law on the HJPC of RS and the accompanying Rulebook on the election of members of that body.

The Court stated that the entity does not have a constitutional basis for establishing its own HJPC because the judiciary of BiH is regulated by state law based on the prior transfer of competencies from the entities.

"The Constitutional Court concludes that the Law on the HJPC of RS and the Rulebook, as an implementing act of that law, are not in accordance with Articles I/2, III/3.b), and VI/5 of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina because their adoption violated the constitutional principle of the rule of law from Article I/2 of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to which entities are obliged to respect the laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Article III/3.b) of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to which entities are obliged to respect 'decisions of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina', as well as the principle from Article VI/5 of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to which the decisions of the Constitutional Court are final and binding," reads the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH, made based on the request for an assessment of constitutionality filed by the BiH Presidency member Željko Komšić and the member of the Collegium of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH Denis Zvizdić.

Although the President of RS Milorad Dodik said that he does not recognize the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH, the HJPC of RS was never established. Furthermore, no judicial institution in RS proposed any of its judges as members of the HJPC of RS.

At the same time, the Supreme Court of RS went a step further and filled the vacancy left after the only judicial resignation that followed pressure from the RS regime.

In addition to the Supreme Court of RS, the Republican Public Prosecutor's Office of RS also "violated" Dodik's laws.

Prosecutors of this Prosecutor's Office, as Istraga has learned, made a decision about twenty days ago to renew the mandate of their colleague Snježana Petković in the HJPC of RS.

Thus, two "republican" judicial institutions have effectively nullified all the laws of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska.