INCOMPLETE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF BiH HAS NO JURISDICTION OVER CONSTITUTIONALITY OF FORMER REPUBLIKA SRPSKA GOVERNMENT

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, JANUARY 21 /SRNA/ – SNSD member of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly Milorad Kojić has stated for SRNA that the incomplete Constitutional Court of BiH should not have jurisdiction to decide on an appeal related to the assessment of the constitutionality of the decision on the appointment of the former Government of Republika Srpska.

"However, given the court's previous practice of ruling on numerous matters outside its jurisdiction, it is evident that it has turned itself into a constitution-maker rather than an interpreter of the Constitution of BiH. It is highly questionable how it will consider and decide on this appeal tomorrow," said Kojić, also a lawyer, ahead of tomorrow's session of the incomplete Constitutional Court of BiH, whose agenda includes the previously filed appeal concerning the Government of Republika Srpska, whose resignation was accepted by the National Assembly on Saturday, January 18. Kojić stressed that the incomplete Constitutional Court of BiH is being used as a tool to completely strip the institutions of Republika Srpska of their authority and to undermine its constitutional and legal order. He noted that the incomplete Constitutional Court of BiH violated a fundamental constitutional principle stipulating that judges who meet retirement requirements must retire. "However, they themselves decide that judges who have met the conditions for retirement remain in office and do not retire until the court is fully staffed," Kojić pointed out. According to him, these examples alone show what can be expected from the incomplete Constitutional Court of BiH. "Anyone who is on the front line of action against Republika Srpska and against Dayton BiH, and who operates in line with or pursues the unitarization of BiH, will certainly not act in good faith with regard to this appeal," Kojić stated. A session of the incomplete Constitutional Court of BiH is scheduled for tomorrow, with the agenda also including a previously submitted request for a constitutional review of the decision on the appointment of the former Government of Republika Srpska, headed by Prime Minister Savo Minić, which was elected on September 2 last year. The request for a constitutional review was earlier submitted to the incomplete Constitutional Court of BiH by four delegates from the Bosniak Club in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, as well as by MPs of the "troika" in the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly. In the meantime, on January 18, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska elected a new Government of Republika Srpska, also headed by Minić. "The new Government of Republika Srpska will preempt any attempt from Sarajevo to undermine Republika Srpska," acting President of Republika Srpska Ana Trišić Babić assessed earlier.