HJPC to address the Constitutional Court of BiH over annulled provisions of the Rulebook, seeks to conclude competition procedures

(Patria) - The majority of the discussion among HJPC members at yesterday's session of this body revolved around the decision of the Court of BiH, which implies the existence of discrimination against candidates from the competition procedure conducted under the provisions of the HJPC BiH Rulebook, concerning the number of years spent in judicial institutions, and which annuls that provision of the Rulebook.

“Regardless of the number of points achieved under the criterion of expertise, a candidate will not be invited for an interview if they hold a judicial function and have spent less than five years in the position from which they are applying,” stated the HJPC Rulebook, which was deemed discriminatory.

HJPC President Halil Lagumdžija reminded that Arben Murtezić, Director of the Center for Education of Judges and Prosecutors of the Federation of BiH, submitted a request for a review of the legality of the provisions from the HJPC Rulebook because he believed they discriminated against judges and prosecutors compared to other legal professionals.

“Bearing in mind that we are the issuers of the act that has been annulled, the Court's position is that in this situation we have no legal interest, because it has been returned to us to decide again. Another reason is that an administrative dispute is not a bilateral dispute; we are the body that issued this administrative act and we are not a party to the proceedings,” said Lagumdžija, explaining that he believes their request for the rejection of the decision will be dismissed.

Sanela Gorušanović Butigan stated that the Court of BiH made a decision halfway through a partially completed competition and that she considers it more appropriate to finish the competition rather than annul it entirely.

“We must find a solution that will be closest to satisfying the Law while avoiding discrimination. We should then finish the competition under the same conditions; it was concluded at the time the Law was in effect, because in the other scenario, for the same person, we would make different decisions based on complaints,” she said.

Council members adopted the proposal to submit extraordinary legal remedies to the Court of BiH in the form of a request for a retrial and a request for a review of the decision, as well as an appeal to the Constitutional Court.

On the first day of the regular session, Council members unanimously adopted the Action Plan for the implementation of the Law on Amendments to the Law on the HJPC of BiH, which addresses the issue of appointing holders of judicial functions until the entry into force of the provision requiring additional verification by the yet-to-be-formed Department for Implementation Based on Reports.

The HJPC BiH Legal Department reminded that the issue of forming the Department and appointing holders of judicial functions has been on the Council's agenda for six months and that by adopting the reporting rulebook, they have done everything they could, and that the response from the Ministry of Finance is now pending, which needs to adopt the budget and allocate funds for employment.

“We have done everything the Council could do, and the public should know that; now it is up to the international partners who promised assistance,” said Council member Sanin Bogunić.

HJPC BiH President Halil Lagumdžija explained that they expect a response on the adoption of the budget within the next ten days and that, if this does not happen, they will go public and address the problem to those responsible for the blockade.

“No one can blame the Council for being at fault for anything – we did what we could, from interviews to the rulebook, to implement the amendments to the Law, but the executive and legislative branches are not following us,” added member Mustafa Šabić.

Detektor has previously written about the blocking of appointments and the work of judicial institutions as a consequence of the inability to implement amendments to the Law on the HJPC.

The appointments of holders of judicial functions planned for both days of the session, which are being rushed due to the entry into force of the provision of the Law on the HJPC that requires additional verification by the still-unformed Department for Implementation Based on Reports, leave room for administrative disputes by candidates who file lawsuits, which will affect the timeline for assuming duties until the Court's decision.

“As a compromise, we proposed that in the appointment decision we also include the date of assumption of duty,” proposed the Appointments Department, which the HJPC BiH members unanimously adopted, setting July 1 as the deadline for assuming office.

On the first day of the session, Council members appointed Antonela Janjić Jokanović as President of the Basic Court in Foča, Rasema Orman Šerbo as President of the Municipal Court in Kiseljak, Osman Mujkić as President of the Basic Court in Bijeljina, Dženeta Pašalić as President of the Cantonal Court in Odžak, and Jurica Babić as President of the Cantonal Court in Livno.