BANJA LUKA – With 56 votes in favor of 65 MPs in total, the Republika Srpska National Assembly entity adopted the Law on the Non-Enforcement of Decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which prohibits the implementation of the Court’s decisions in the territory of this entity.
“This is the day when we start a completely new story, it implies that we will have our relationship with the Constitutional Court in this way, as we had the other day with the fake High Representative. Nowhere in Dayton was it written that the decisions of the High Representative would be published in the RS Official Gazette, nor was it foreseen that he would make decisions that would publish them”, President of Republika Srpska entity Milorad Dodik said.
According to implemented law, the decision by which the Rules of the Constitutional Court were amended and the decisions of the Court adopted with new amendments to the Rules of the Constitutional Court of BiH not be applied and executed on the territory of the RS. Additionally, with 50 votes in favor, the conclusions of the parties of the ruling majority were passed, which envisage blocking the implementation of any of the 14 priorities on the BiH’s EU path until the Constitutional Court of BiH is reformed.
“The Republika Srpska National Assembly carried out a reckless attack on the Dayton Peace Agreement and the BiH Constitution it established by adopting the Law on the Non-Enforcement of Decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH”, US Embassy to BiH said on Twitter.
“No amount of political rhetoric or misinformation can alter the fundamental fact that Article III (3) of the Dayton Constitution clearly states that the Republika Srpska must fully comply with the decisions of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which includes final and binding rulings of the BiH Constitutional Court,” the Embassy tweeted.
They noted that the RS cannot unilaterally nullify this obligation; nor can it legally ignore BiH Constitutional Court decisions.
“As we have said before, Serbs are an integral part of a multi-ethnic BiH and have a role to play in shaping the country’s institutions and future. This is enshrined in the Dayton Peace Agreement. If Mr. Dodik prevents the RSNA from nominating two judges to the BiH Constitutional Court, then the Court will reach decisions without the benefit of two judges selected from the RS. Mr. Dodik’s actions will have deprived residents of the Republika Srpska of a voice within a state-level institution provided for in the Dayton Peace Agreement. This is foolish and irresponsible, but it is certainly consistent with Mr. Dodik’s other efforts to deprive Republika Srpska residents of their fundamental freedoms of press, speech, and assembly,” the Embassy said.