SDS-PDP against blockades: Mektić's bill on HJPC might pass, but will fail in the House of Peoples

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PSBiH) decided today that the request of MP Dragan Mektić - the Bill on the Termination of Mandate of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) of BiH, in its current composition - be considered under an urgent procedure.

23 representatives voted for the urgent procedure, 14 voted against, and one abstained. Representatives of SDS and PDP supported Mektić's proposal. 

If this vote remains the same at the end of the session when the law itself will be voted on, this proposal will be adopted, but it is evident that it will fail in the House of Peoples of the PSBiH, where the SNSD has five members in the Serb Club and the HDZ has four members in the Croat Club.

"Milan Tegeltija represents the HJPC, and unfortunately, in the recent period, he has been involved in significant scandals. After the President of the HJPC did not show a high degree of morality and responsibility, we expected the HJPC to initiate its own dismissal. That did not happen either. After we did not adopt the reports on the HJPC, colleague Mektić's initiative came at the right time, we must take certain steps," said SDA representative Adil Osmanović.

Head of the SNSD Caucus Snježana Novaković Bursać reminded that eight years ago, at the initiative of the then leadership of Republika Srpska, BiH joined the structural dialogue in the field of justice in dialogue with the EU.

The Chairman of the Serb Representatives' Club, Nenad Stevandić, warned that the adoption of the proposed law, i.e., the termination of the mandate of HJPC members, would lead BiH into complete legal uncertainty or anarchy.

"It is not easy to appoint new members," Stevandić stated. Assessing that this is about personal motives and revolutionary justice, Stevandić said that it could lead to even greater injustice.
However, if this law passes, it is clear that SDS and PDP will not respect the decision of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska not to make decisions in state institutions until foreign judges leave the Constitutional Court of BiH.

Alma Čolo from SDA emphasized that for her, any discussion about the judicial system in Parliament is urgent, warning that representatives of the highest judicial institutions in BiH ignore the Parliamentary Assembly and are accountable to no one for their personnel policy and work.

The proposed law stipulates that the mandate of the current members of the HJPC of BiH shall cease on June 15, and that by June 8 at the latest, judicial bodies, bar associations, and BiH institutions that elect HJPC members shall conduct the procedure for electing new members of the HJPC of BiH.