Constitutional Court of BiH Calls on Entity Legislative Bodies to Elect Missing Judges and Fulfill Obligations Under the BiH Constitution

(Patria) - The Constitutional Court of BiH held yesterday's plenary session online due to sudden and objective circumstances (cancellation of flights for international judges due to bad weather). Three foreign judges and three domestic judges participate in the work of the Constitutional Court of BiH. The Constitutional Court of BiH still lacks three domestic judges. Two are to be elected by the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska, and one more should be elected by the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH.

At the beginning of the plenary session, the Constitutional Court of BiH considered the Information on the activities of the Constitutional Court undertaken so far with the aim of functioning in the new circumstances, as well as on all future activities and measures that the Constitutional Court will undertake with the aim of the smooth functioning of the Court.

Within this agenda item, the Constitutional Court adopted appropriate conclusions. One of the conclusions is that the Constitutional Court will, in the coming period, prepare an appropriate strategy that will enable the further smooth functioning of the Constitutional Court.

"The Constitutional Court again calls on the competent legislative bodies of the entities (the House of Representatives of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska) to immediately, without further delay, fulfill their constitutional obligation and elect the missing judges to the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, all with the aim of enabling the smooth functioning of the most important institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Namely, although almost two years have passed since the retirement of Judge Mato Tadić, more than a year since the retirement of Judge Miodrag Simović, and although Judge Zlatko M. Knežević recently retired early at his own request, the competent legislative bodies of the entities are not electing the missing judges to the Constitutional Court, thereby directly violating and undermining the Dayton Peace Agreement and within it Annex IV of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina," states the Constitutional Court.

In this regard, they remind that the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, established under Article VI of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina as an independent guardian of the Constitution, is the highest guarantor of the protection of the rule of law in BiH and the institutional guarantor for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms established by the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the instruments of Annex I of the Constitution.

"The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not part of the legislative, executive, or regular judicial authority, but is positioned by the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a special, autonomous, and independent authority which, based on the Constitution, acts as a corrective factor for the other three segments of government and as such is not obliged to answer to them. Only the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina can adopt regulations and general acts concerning its work and its role as defined by the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. From all this, it follows that the Constitutional Court of BiH, in the constitutional-legal system of Bosnia and Herzegovina, enjoys complete autonomy and independence from any branch of government, which was granted exclusively by the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Constitutional Court emphasizes that even in these exceptional and very challenging circumstances, the Constitutional Court has full legality and legitimacy in its work, which it derives directly from the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its Rules, which the Constitutional Court adopts based on the BiH Constitution. The decisions of the Constitutional Court are final and binding, and any failure to respect them constitutes a criminal offense," noted the Constitutional Court of BiH.