HJPC has been halting appointments in RS judiciary since March, do BiH institutions have the strength to deal with those undermining the constitutional order?

By: Amra Vrabac

The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH (HJPC) at its last three sessions (March, April, May), including the one being held today and tomorrow, has not appointed a single holder of judicial office in the judiciary of the Republika Srpska entity.

Anyone who follows the work of the HJPC and appointments knows that holders of judicial office are appointed at each session, and at least one is appointed to a court or prosecutor's office in RS.

The last appointment in three judicial institutions in RS (two courts and a prosecutor's office) was at the HJPC session on February 26 and 27. Prior to that, at the session on February 5 and 6, the HJPC appointed ten individuals to judicial institutions at the RS level.

And it was precisely February 27 that was a turning point, clearly halting appointments in the RS judiciary until the "situation calms down." On February 27, the National Assembly of RS passed several laws prohibiting the work of the HJPC, the Court, the Prosecutor's Office, and SIPA in the territory of RS, and planning the establishment of an entity HJPC. The political leadership of RS, led by Milorad Dodik, publicly called on cadres from RS, primarily Serbs, to withdraw from these institutions, and those who refused would have their work in that court and prosecutor's office cease to be financed by the RS Government, or it would simply be shut down. Dodik went so far as to threaten confiscation of property for those who ignored his call. Although a small number of people responded, only a few SIPA employees who moved to RS entity institutions, the work of the judiciary has been shaken by these moves of the RS entity. No matter how much some want to admit it or not.

Due to the pressure created by the RS leadership, which has been ongoing for the third month, the regular work of state judicial institutions has been called into question. The names and biographies of judges and prosecutors have disappeared from the official websites of the Court and Prosecutor's Office of BiH, appointments in the RS judiciary have been halted, and in late March, member Ljiljana Bošnjak Glizijan, who was elected in June 2023 representing the Supreme Court of Republika Srpska, left the HJPC. Although she stated in her resignation that the reasons were personal, it is clear that the pressure and threats contributed to this decision. That position is still vacant, and the Supreme Court of RS has not elected a new representative to the HJPC. However, the HJPC can still operate and make decisions with 14 members as long as the other members from RS attend the sessions.

At the first subsequent HJPC session on March 20, after the adoption of unconstitutional laws that the Constitutional Court of BiH annulled on March 7, ten holders of judicial office were appointed, but exclusively in the FBiH. This was followed by the session on April 9 and 10, when five individuals were appointed to judicial institutions in the FBiH.

The agenda for the two-day HJPC session on May 7 and 8 includes the appointment of three holders of judicial office: two at the FBiH level (Municipal Court Bosanska Krupa and KS Prosecutor's Office), and one to the Appellate Court of Brčko District.

The HJPC will also determine the termination of mandates for three judges and two prosecutors, of whom two are from the RS level.

Regarding the filling of the position of judge of the Constitutional Court of RS, the HJPC will make a decision on amending the Commission for conducting interviews with candidates, as well as a decision on taking office by candidates appointed at the Council sessions held on January 16 and February 27, 2025, among whom are holders of judicial office at the RS level.

Regardless of the support the HJPC has received in recent months from both domestic and international officials, such a situation can cause long-term damage to the judicial system of BiH.

The attack on the constitutional order and the rule of law carried out by the leadership of the Republika Srpska entity has been without a clear response for three months. State judicial institutions (Prosecutor's Office and Court with police agencies) have failed to bring Dodik to justice, and as time goes by, there is less and less confidence that the state, with its shaky institutions, some of which are even partly controlled by those undermining the constitutional order, will succeed in enforcing the laws of this country.