Constitutional Court of BiH issues interim measure: RS Election Law suspended pending final decision

(Patria) - The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina held an extraordinary plenary session on July 24, 2024, and adopted a proposal for an interim measure in case U-12/24, filed in the request by Denis Zvizdić, First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the assessment of the constitutionality of the Election Law of Republika Srpska.

The disputed law was adopted by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska at a session held on April 19, 2024, and entered into force on July 17, 2024. With the aforementioned decision, the Constitutional Court has temporarily suspended the legal force of the Election Law of Republika Srpska from the date it entered into force, July 17, 2024, applying the principle of ab initio, until the final decision of the Constitutional Court on the request for constitutionality assessment.

In explaining its decision, the Constitutional Court assessed that it is evident that the circumstances of this case raise very serious and complex issues of constitutionality of the disputed Election Law of RS. Namely, the provisions of the disputed law regulate issues that are already regulated by the Election Law of BiH, and the Republican Election Commission of RS is given competencies that belong to the Central Election Commission of BiH, while simultaneously suspending certain provisions of the Election Law of BiH.

In the circumstances of the specific case, the Constitutional Court concluded that issues of the National Assembly's competence to differently regulate the same area at different levels of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina are being raised. The Constitutional Court therefore considers that there are valid doubts that the disputed law could disrupt the constitutional order and political stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is sufficient at this stage to establish the existence of a "demonstrable claim" for the possibility of irreparable harmful consequences as one of the conditions for the Constitutional Court to decide on the request for an interim measure.

Furthermore, considering the condition of "urgency" for adopting an interim measure, the Constitutional Court believes that regulations related to elections represent one of the most important areas of regulation that is crucial for ensuring free, fair, and transparent elections that reflect the will of the citizens.

Therefore, the implementation of the Election Law of RS would seriously undermine the role of the Central Election Commission of BiH. The mere possibility of organizing the upcoming local elections in Republika Srpska under the disputed law poses a threat of irreparable damage to the democratic electoral process, legal certainty, and the rule of law. Maintaining such a legal situation would disrupt the legal order and constitutional framework of the state, lead to legal uncertainty, and jeopardize the legitimacy of the electoral process, which could result in serious political instability.

The Constitutional Court reminds that the decision on the interim measure does not prejudge the decision on the merits of the request.