Law on the Court of BiH: Brussels more important than justice, seat more important than jurisdiction

(Patria) - The House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina will consider on May 28 a new Proposal for the Law on the Court of BiH, the third in a row, which is the result of an agreement between the parties of the Troika and the opposition from the Republika Srpska. Although it is a law that represents a key step on Bosnia and Herzegovina's European path, in political practice it faces numerous challenges, from disputed jurisdictions to the issue of the seat of the future Appellate Division. Although jurisdictions are more important than the seat itself, most of the discussion has been focused on where the court's seat will be.

According to the latest proposal, the Appellate Division of the Court of BiH should be located in Pale, which is a demand of the opposition from the RS and a compromise accepted by the Troika. This decision has caused political divisions, especially because HDZ delegate Marina Pendeš, in a second draft law, proposes the seat in East Novo Sarajevo.

Predrag Kojović, one of the proposers of the law from the Troika, as is usually the case, does not explain the situation itself too much, but emphasizes that its adoption would be a strong message to Brussels that the coalition has the capacity to pass key reform laws.

Thus, it could be concluded that signals from Brussels are more important to us than the situation in BiH itself.

Nevertheless, there are still no clear signals on how the rest of the House of Representatives will vote.

On the other hand, the law from the procedure of the House of Peoples, proposed by Marina Pendeš, faces serious criticism and will very likely not be adopted. The Head of the Bosniak Club in the House of Peoples, Šefik Džaferović, points out that this proposal significantly reduces the jurisdiction of the Court of BiH, especially in the fight against corruption, and omits important elements such as monitoring case law and trials for war crimes.

Meanwhile, another proposal for the Law on the Court of BiH has been waiting in the Council of Ministers of BiH for some time, but due to disagreements over the seat of the appellate division (SNSD insists on Banja Luka, the Troika on East Sarajevo), the law has not received support.

The adoption of the Law on the Court of BiH is one of the key priorities set by the European Union for Bosnia and Herzegovina to open membership negotiations.

The European Commission emphasizes the importance of adopting this law to strengthen legal certainty and the efficiency of the judiciary. But it is unlikely that it will truly deliver that.

Because, it remains to be seen whether political differences will once again override reform goals, which unfortunately in the end do not prove to be truly reformist, as we see no progress. And, each proposal is worse than the last, with no real effect on establishing a system that would bring prosperity to the citizens of BiH.

(A.Č.Z.)