Constitutional Court of BiH rejects request of National Assembly of RS, January 9th unconstitutional and referendum temporarily suspended

The Constitutional Court of BiH at its 99th plenary session rejected the request of the National Assembly of RS for a review of the decision of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, thus finally confirming that January 9th is considered unconstitutional, reports Večernji list, according to Patria.

The judges also considered the request submitted by Bakir Izetbegović, Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, as well as several other Bosniak politicians, to annul the decision on calling the referendum of the National Assembly of RS on the Day of Republika Srpska, and the Constitutional Court made a decision to temporarily suspend the referendum in RS.

The Constitutional Court of BiH should now order that the operative part of the verdict be incorporated into the Law on Holidays of RS. In that case, the Constitutional Court of BiH should submit a decision on execution to the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, which, based on that, has the legal possibility to initiate criminal proceedings against persons responsible for not implementing the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH, i.e., against those who organize and conduct the referendum.

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The session of the Constitutional Court of BiH is still ongoing, during which the received requests regarding the Decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH from November 2015 are being considered, which determined the unconstitutionality of the provision of the Law on Holidays of Republika Srpska concerning January 9th as the Day of RS, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

Milorad Dodik, President of RS, announced today that regardless of the decision of the Constitutional Court, the referendum will be held on September 25th, where citizens are to express their opinion on January 9th as the Day of RS, i.e., answer the question: "Do you support January 9th being marked and celebrated as the Day of Republika Srpska?".