Leadership of FBiH, Constitutional Court and MPs on Trial: Vukoja's Election Threatens Rule of Law, Priority on BiH's Path to EU

By: Rasim Belko @rasimbelko

Clubs of SDA, DF and SBiH in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH have officially submitted a request to the President of the Federation of BiH Lidija Bradara and the Vice Presidents of the Federation of BiH Refik Lendo and Igor Stojanović to, in accordance with their constitutional obligation, take action to protect constitutionality in the Federation of BiH.

In light of this request, we remind that the Constitutional Court of the Federation will decide on May 27 on four requests for assessment of constitutionality filed by the deputies of the House of Representatives due to the unconstitutional actions of that house from the constitutive session onwards. If the Constitutional Court accepts the requests and makes a decision, much in the House of Representatives will have to be returned to its previous state, and thus the decision on the election of Marin Vukoja.

Due to procedures and the fact that the Constitutional Court of FBiH will likely not manage to complete everything regarding the aforementioned requests, the deputies of SDA, DF and SBiH have asked the Court to issue a temporary measure. A temporary measure is necessary to prevent further action based on flawed procedures, as mistakes and bad decisions will be difficult to correct. A temporary measure, if accepted by the Constitutional Court of FBiH, will prevent the potentially unconstitutional appointment of a judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH, which would be a paradox and an unprecedented nonsense.

There is no doubt that, regardless of how the constitutionality assessments will conclude based on the requests, the Constitutional Court of FBiH must accept the request for a temporary measure and thus prevent, rather than cure.

I have already written, but it is worth repeating - the decisions that the Constitutional Court will make at its next session will define judicial practices for the future, and that is a burden that judges must be aware of. Because, if they assess that undemocratic conduct, anti-parliamentarism, and political violence are permissible, they will leave the Federation in trouble, as any future government will use that decision to behave the same way. Because, the government, whoever constitutes it, can never escape the need to control, which is why the Constitution and regulations exist to keep everything within the framework of democracy and defined rules.

There is no doubt that the Constitutional Court of FBiH has brought itself to the need to issue a temporary measure by delaying decisions on requests for constitutionality assessment, even though some were filed more than half a year ago. In parliamentary circles, there was also talk about the fact that they are delaying because some judges of the Constitutional Court of FBiH owe political parties, and the best refutation of these stories is the issuance of a temporary measure and a decision in accordance with the Constitution of FBiH, which will leave no room for doubt.

The responsibility undoubtedly lies with the President, or rather the Vice Presidents of the Federation of BiH, because their function is not protocolary, and one of their duties is to ensure the rule of law in that entity. Therefore, it is rightly expected that they will get involved in one of the key processes when it comes to protecting the Constitution, the Rules of Procedure, and parliamentary democracy. It is up to Bradara, Lendo, and Stojanović to also address the Constitutional Court and request a temporary measure until the knot around parliamentary functioning outside the Rules of Procedure and the Constitution is untangled.

If they continue to remain silent, especially after the request from the parliamentarians, it will be clear that they are not interested in the functioning of the Federation according to the rules and the Constitution and that they are there to play protocol games.

At the same time, Bradara, Stojanović, and Lendo have an obligation to request the House of Representatives of the Parliament to postpone the decision on Vukoja, regardless of what they think of Vukoja himself.

Because, the process through which Vukoja came as a proposal before the deputies of the House of Representatives from the Election and Appointment Committee has jeopardized constitutional and procedural functioning.

It would be paradoxical for a person who came to the position of judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH through processes contrary to the Constitution of FBiH and the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives of FBiH to sit in the Constitutional Court of BiH and protect the Constitution of BiH by virtue of their office.

Therefore, it is the responsibility of everyone in the chain of functioning of the government in the Federation of BiH to ensure that processes proceed in accordance with the Constitution and other rules. This is called the rule of law and is one of the most difficult tasks on the European path. And that path could be barricaded, because merely convening a session of the House of Representatives on Vukoja before the Opinion of the Venice Commission is contrary to European practice.

Ultimately, the greatest responsibility lies with the judges of the Constitutional Court. The public knows their names, and it is only a question of whether they will be remembered in the history of the entity of FBiH and this country as judges who judged contrary to the Constitution or allowed a judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH to be appointed through procedures contrary to the Constitution of FBiH and the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives of FBiH.

The burden is heavy, that is true, but the Constitution and all other rules are simple and clear, they just need to be followed!