Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska's Council for Protection of Vital Interests did not accept the request of the Bosniak Caucus

(Patria) - The Council for Protection of Vital Interests of the Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska, after consideration, did not accept the request of the Bosniak People's Caucus in the Council of Peoples of Republika Srpska to determine the violation of the vital national interest of the constituent Bosniak people in the Law on the Agency for Higher Education of Republika Srpska, which was passed by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska at its session on March 14 this year.

At the session, the Council discussed the admissibility of the aforementioned request, i.e., whether there are procedural conditions for a substantive decision on whether the contested law has violated the vital national interest of the constituent Bosniak people.

- The applicant stated in their request that the contested law is not in accordance with the Constitution of BiH and its laws, nor with the Constitution of Republika Srpska – the Council's statement reads.

Namely, they explain, the applicant states that the law in question is essentially a new version of the previously adopted Law on Quality Assurance in Higher Education of Republika Srpska, some provisions of which were found unconstitutional by the Decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH, number U-3/21 of September 28, 2023.

Since the contested law is contrary to the aforementioned decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH, it is added, the applicant believes that Republika Srpska, as an entity, cannot adopt new quality assurance standards in higher education and thus assume the jurisdiction of BiH.

- When deciding on the admissibility of the request, the Council determined that such a request is not admissible, given that, as in several cases so far, the reasoning of the Decision to initiate the procedure for the protection of vital national interest cannot be considered reasoning within the meaning of Article 48, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 of the Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska – the Council emphasizes.

The Council, as stated in the statement, assessed that the applicant did not specify how the vital national interest of the Bosniak people was violated, because the reasoning of the decision does not contain reasons that can be linked to the relevant provisions of the Constitution of Republika Srpska on the protection of vital national interests of the constituent peoples as defined by Amendments LXXVII to Article 70 of the Constitution of Republika Srpska.