HOUSE OF PEOPLES SESSION ON APRIL 22: Will HDZ succeed in pushing Monika Mijić into the Constitutional Court of the Federation of BiH?

(Patria) - When the plan to continue the session of the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament at late hours, where judges of the Constitutional Court of the Federation of BiH were to be elected, was thwarted at the end of January, that point is now on the agenda of the new 18th session, which is scheduled to be held on April 22, concerning the election of judges to the Constitutional Court of the Federation of BiH.

The appointment of judges requires the confirmation of a majority of the delegates of the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation who are present and voting, so the intention of those who wanted to fill the Constitutional Court of the Federation of BiH on that last January day was clear, and the opposition strongly opposed it. The mandates of Mirjana Čučković (from the Serb people) and Kata Senjak (from the Croat people) have expired. The following remain in the Constitutional Court of the Federation of BiH: Aleksandra Martinović (from the Others), Vesna Budimir, Edin Muminović, Ajša Softić, Mirko Milićević, Branimir Orašanin, Alen Taletović.

The Constitutional Court of the Federation consists of nine judges, with at least two from each of the three constituent peoples and one from the Others. This structure was established by Amendment XLVIII to the Constitution of the Federation from April 2002, thus ensuring the representation of all three constituent peoples in this institution in accordance with the well-known decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH on the constitutionality of peoples from July 2000.

The President of the Federation of BiH, Lidija Bradara, sent two lists of candidates for judges to the House of Peoples. On one, she proposed that Slaviša Bjelogrlić be appointed as a judge from the Serb people. As she did not receive the consent of the Vice-President of the Federation of BiH, she sent a list of candidates which, in addition to Bjelogrlić, includes Damir Šapina, Anja Pavelka-Vuleta, Adis Abdić, Tanja Hadžagić, Smajo Šabić, and Ognjen Gašović. With this list, it is clear that a judge must be elected from the Serb people.

However, for the second list, affiliation with constituent peoples is not relevant. Despite the fact that Judge Kata Senjak declares herself as a Croat, a judge from the Croat people does not have to be elected in her place, because even with her retirement, two judges from the Croat people remain in the Court, which is the number prescribed by the Constitution of the Federation of BiH. On this list, which is two years old, is Monika Mijić, acting agent of BiH before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, for whose election HDZ BiH is advocating.

As Bradara did not receive the consent of the Vice-President of the Federation of BiH for this list either, she sent the list to the House, with Jasminka Džumhur ranked first. Mijić is behind her, followed by Senad Osmić, Boris Barun, Tanja Hadžagić, Izmir Hadžiavdić, Željko Škarica, and Samir Zuparević.

At the same session, delegates should first consider the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Contributions - abbreviated procedure, which the House of Representatives has already adopted. The plan is for the amendments to this law, which reduce the contribution rate on salaries, to take effect on July 1, 2025.

The agenda also includes the Draft Law on the Activities of Psychologists in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the Decision on Allocating Funds to the Solidarity Fund of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2025.

Regarding appointments, in addition to the judges of the Constitutional Court of the Federation of BiH, delegates are also to vote on the appointment of members of the Independent Board and the appointment of members of the Management Board of Radio-Television of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Although these appointments (Independent Board, Management Board of RTV FBiH) have passed in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH, a heated debate is expected due to the members of the Management Board of RTV FBiH, which includes Zoran Krešić, whose views have long ceased to be within the scope of journalistic work and have entered the realm of political-HDZ activity, which is why he has been rewarded with this position.