Constitutional Court of RS: No violation of vital national interest in amendments to the Law on Police

(Patria) - The Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska has decided that the amendments to the Law on Police and Internal Affairs do not violate the vital national interest of the constituent Bosniak people.

As stated on the official website of the court, during the decision-making process, the objection of the applicant was considered, according to which the disputed law changes the organization of public authority without a guarantee of proportional representation of the constituent peoples.

The Court concluded that the principle of national representation is already established in the basic text of the Law on Police and Internal Affairs. That act stipulates that the structure of police officers, including auxiliary staff, must reflect the national structure of the population according to the last census. Therefore, the Court believes, there was no need to further emphasize this principle in the amendments to the law.

Let us remind you, the appeal was filed after the Council of Peoples of RS rejected the veto of the Bosniak Caucus on the adopted legal amendments at the end of July.

The amendments to the Law provide for formal-legal conditions for the establishment of an auxiliary police force in RS. According to the explanation, the reserve force should contribute to strengthening security, especially in extraordinary circumstances and humanitarian crises.

This issue was also topical in 2019, when the authorities in RS announced the formation of a reserve police force, but then abandoned the plan after negative reactions from the international community.