KOJIĆ: CONSTITUTIONAL COURT SHOULD ACCEPT OPINION OF CONSTITUTIONAL-LEGAL COMMISSION

SARAJEVO, FEBRUARY 13 /SRNA/ - An SNSD member of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH Milorad Kojić said that the Constitutional Court of BiH should accept the opinion of the Constitutional-Legal Commission that someone who proclaims himself High Representative does not have the authority to enact any laws beyond constitutional competencies.

"Whether there will be enough legal will, but also human will, to accept such a decision of the Constitutional-Legal Commission, which is the only correct one and which the Constitutional Court should adopt even regardless of the Commission’s opinion, time will tell," Kojić said. If the Constitutional Court of BiH accepts the position of the Constitutional-Legal Commission that the High Representative does not have the right to enact, that is, impose a law, Kojić stated that, in practice, this would mean the annulment of everything caused by that provision of the law and would indeed have major consequences. "The Constitutional Court of BiH, as a party to the proceedings, should accept the opinion of the Constitutional-Legal Commission in the sense that, especially someone who proclaims himself High Representative, does not have the authority to pass any laws beyond constitutional competencies. The only body constitutionally authorized is the Parliamentary Assembly," Kojić told reporters in Sarajevo. Kojić pointed out that it is well known that the Constitutional Court of BiH has acted exclusively in the interest of Bosniaks and that it has in no way respected what is prescribed by the Constitution itself. He emphasized that, through such actions, the Constitutional Court has effectively turned itself into a constitution-maker, as it has altered certain provisions of the Constitution through the decisions it has issued. According to him, it is difficult to place hope in the Constitutional Court, but what is important is that the opinion of the Constitutional-Legal Commission is constitutional, namely that, in accordance with the Constitution, only the Parliamentary Assembly has exclusive authority to pass laws. Kojić recalled that all interventions by legitimate High Representatives were considered in parliament. "To put things hypothetically, if today we pass a law in the House of Representatives and say that it enters into force when it is published on the Parliamentary Assembly's website. That is how the OHR operated, claiming that it was sufficient to publish it on the OHR website or in the Official Gazette," Kojić explained. He added that this is contrary to the law that regulates the entry into force of legal regulations. He recalled that the head of the SNSD Caucus in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH Sanja Vulić submitted a request for access to information within the scope of core competencies of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, namely, whether and when it considered and adopted amendments to the Criminal Code of BiH, who was the authorized proposer, as well as a request for a record of voting in both houses. "We were informed that the Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code was never considered or adopted through the legislative procedure of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH," Kojić said. The response at that time also stated that the Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly does not have information on who was the authorized proposer of the amendments to the Criminal Code. At today's session, the Constitutional-Legal Commission of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH adopted a conclusion stating that the High Representative does not have constitutional authority to enact laws, which renders the provisions of the Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code of BiH unconstitutional. The conclusion was made in response to a request from the Constitutional Court of BiH to assess the constitutionality of the provisions of Article 203a of the Criminal Code of BiH, as well as Article 4 of the Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code of BiH, the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH announced.