What the new HJPC law envisages: Number of members increased to 20, including representatives of bar associations

(Patria) - The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not want special restrictions in terms of potential new mandates for current members, after the new law on the HJPC comes into force, it was stated at the Council session on the first day of its holding on Wednesday.

The restriction according to which those who are in the technical mandate of the Council will not be able to be nominated for the first new mandate when the new law on the HJPC comes into force, was rejected by the members at the session, and they adopted the position that there should be no such restriction.

According to Halil Lagumdžija, President of the HJPC, it is not disputed that whoever finds themselves in a mandate will continue in a technical one, but it is disputed by the members that they should not be nominated for a new mandate of the new Council.

The session discussed how to treat the mandate of Council members at the time the new law comes into force, technical mandates in a transitional phase of one year, and the number of possible mandates.

Council member Ljiljana Bošnjak Glizijan considered that it is not right to specifically restrict current Council members in terms of their future within the new law.

“If we exclude ourselves from being elected due to public opinion, I will not say that,” said Bošnjak Glizijan.

She is not the only member expressing opposition to restrictions, and Council President Halil Lagumdžija said that the law is being made for the HJPC, not for current members. Due to the increasingly loud discussion, he excluded the public from part of the session.

After the session became public again, a proposal was adopted by vote according to which current members are excluded from the restrictions brought by the new law on the HJPC.

At the beginning of the session, it was stated that the members of the working group would submit their proposals related to the disputed provisions of the Draft, which is why some members of the HJPC said that there was nothing to discuss. However, after brief consultations, the discussion began.

The national quota of 4-4-4-2 was discussed. Although support was expressed, some Council members were against such a provision because it would, as claimed, come at the expense of professionalism and moral principles.

It was also supported that the number of Council members under the new law be 20, and that representatives of bar associations also be on the Council.

The President of the HJPC also commented to journalists on the lawyers' strike, saying that he believes the tariff increase is justified, and that he proposed that the strike be frozen until November 15 and that the eventually adopted new tariff begin to be applied from January 2025.

The first part of the session mostly discussed the Draft Law on the HJPC, and it was planned to determine the Council's proposal regarding some provisions that are contentious for the Council. The proposal, after being adopted at the HJPC session, should be sent to the Council of Ministers as the proposer and to the Venice Commission. As Lagumdžija said, the plan is for the law to be adopted by the end of 2024, writes Detektor.