PROPERTY LAW CHANGES DO NOT HARM BOSNIAK VITAL INTEREST

BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 26 /SRNA/ – The Council for the Protection of Vital Interest of the Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska determined today that the Law on Amendments to the Law on Property Rights, adopted late last year in the National Assembly, does not violate the vital national interest of the constituent Bosniak people.

The Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska stated that representatives of the Bosniak Club in the Republika Srpska Council of Peoples believed that the amendments to the law placed certain categories of non-war invalids, civilian war victims, and victims of wartime torture in an unequal position. "Our Council determined that the claims presented in the explanation of the request do not indicate a violation of rights within the scope of protecting the vital interest of any constituent people," the statement added. The Council adopted this position taking into account that the explanation of the decision to initiate the vital interest protection procedure did not contain legal arguments explaining how the contested law undermines the sense of identity of the Bosniak constituent people. It was also not clarified which other issues, in this specific case, could be treated as a vital national interest if such a position is held by two-thirds of the Bosniak Club. "Therefore, the Council considers that the claim that the contested legal solution places `certain categories of non-war invalids, civilian war victims, and victims of wartime torture in an unequal position` is general in nature and, as such, cannot be linked to the constitutional guarantees protecting vital national interests," the Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska stated. In addition, the Council considers that the contested law, which expands the category of persons eligible to obtain construction rights without compensation for the purpose of resolving housing issues, applies equally to all citizens of Republika Srpska, regardless of their national affiliation.