Constitutional Court of FBiH Hearing: How did Marinković Lepić, who resigned, sign acts without presiding over the session?

(Patria) - How could Mirjana Marinković-Lepić (Our Party), the resigned chairperson, sign the act on filling working bodies at the eighth session of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, if she did not preside over that session?

How can the fifth session of the Election and Appointment Committee of this House be convened if the continuation of the interrupted fourth session has not been convened beforehand? These are some of the questions that the judges of the Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina had at today's public hearing held in Sarajevo, reports Faktor.

Our rights are continuously being violated

The hearing concerned a case related to the request of 39 representatives of the House of Representatives of the FBiH for the resolution of a dispute between the applicants and the leadership of the House regarding the convening and holding of the 8th regular session on January 22, 2024.

- The reason for our address to the Constitutional Court of the FBiH is contained in the fact that we, as representatives in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of FBiH, have been unjustifiably treated by the leadership's actions. The actions of the leadership of the House of Representatives of the FBiH regarding the convening and holding of the regular 8th session can be divided into two categories.

- First of all, those that were taken in the phase of convening the session itself, and those that were taken during the session itself. We were denied relevant information and the delivery of documentation related to the agenda items, which is achieved through the non-delivery of materials with the invitation to the session within the deadlines prescribed by the Rules of Procedure and the explanations of the materials. Non-delivery of reports from working bodies within the prescribed deadlines. Subsequent inclusion of items on the agenda of the eighth session - explained Bišćević Tokić and added:
- The session was held on January 22, 2024. The violation of the Rules of Procedure is also reflected in the authority to convene the eighth regular session of the House of Representatives. Namely, on December 5, 2023, the chairperson Mirjana Marinković-Lepić authorized the deputy chairperson Mladen Bošković, contrary to the provisions of the Rules of Procedure. Before giving authorization, she did not consult with the deputy chairperson Edina Gabela, and later we found out not even with Bošković. She gave him authorization on her own initiative. She was present at the eighth working session, participated fully in the work of the session, and performed all duties of the chairperson.

The Rules of Procedure do not recognize the institution of resignation

She pointed out that the material regarding the information on the non-functioning of the working bodies of the House of Representatives was not delivered with the invitation to the 8th session.

- In the specific case, no act was prepared, nor did it exist, that was titled as information prepared by authorized proposers - said Bišćević Tokić.

The parliamentary majority was represented at the hearing by federal representative Belmin Zukan.

- I believe it is important to say that the Rules of Procedure do not recognize the institution of resignation of the leadership or representatives for internal reallocation within the House at all. In this regard, resignation cannot be considered a request for dismissal. In this regard, the chairperson had to assume her duties until a new chairperson was appointed, which is what happened. Marinković-Lepić had to perform her duties so that we would not reach a situation where a session could not be convened - said Zukan.

After their presentations, questions from the judges followed.

- A decision on the filling of working bodies was made at the eighth session. Why was the decision signed by a person who did not preside over that session - asked judge Branimir Orašanin.

Zukan said that "the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives state that acts adopted by the House are usually signed by the chairperson".



- Although she did not preside over the session at that moment, we considered that there was no obstacle for her to sign those acts as well - said Zukan.

The interrupted fourth session was never continued

The president of the court, Aleksandra Martinović, asked both sides to clarify Article 49 of the Rules of Procedure. Specifically, to state whether the Rules of Procedure prescribe the method of filling working bodies when a member resigns or their mandate ceases in another way during their term.

Zukan replied that the Rules of Procedure do not recognize such situations, stating that they tried to fill the working bodies, but that it happened that representatives attending the session, who are members of committees, such as the Election and Appointment Committee, did not attend the sessions convened during breaks, and then reappeared at the continuation of the session.

Martinović then asked the representatives of the representatives who filed the dispute resolution request to comment on such a phenomenon and whether it was true.

- First of all, you need to know that regarding the Election and Appointment Committee of the House of Representatives, there was a fourth session in March 2023 which was abruptly interrupted, and the opposition members of the committee requested that it be continued. The president of the Committee (Mladen Bošković) persistently ignored this and convened the fifth and sixth sessions. That is the reason why representatives did not attend the sessions convened during breaks because it was not a continuation of the fourth session - explained federal representative Mahir Mešalić.

The discussion then concluded, and the president of the Constitutional Court of FBiH, Aleksandra Martinović, explained that after the discussion, the entire process needs to be completed, but that the verdict will be publicly announced.