CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF BiH NOT COMPETENT TO ASSESS CONSTITUTIONALITY OF ELECTION OF SRPSKA GOVERNMENT

BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 23 /SRNA/ - The National Assembly of Republika Srpska Committee on Constitutional Affairs believes that the request by Bosniak members of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH for assessment of the constitutionality of the election of the new Government of Republika Srpska is, in essence, inadmissible, as it does not constitute a dispute between BiH and Republika Srpska, and therefore the Constitutional Court of BiH has no jurisdiction to decide on the matter.

The request is also unfounded, since the National Assembly is a body of the Republic that exercises constitutional and legislative authority, serves as the representative body of all citizens of Republika Srpska, and has an obligation, within its constitutional powers, to employ all legal instruments necessary for the functioning of Republic institutions, as stated in the position of the Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska, according to the response submitted to the Constitutional Court of BiH. The National Assembly of Republika Srpska expects the request to be dismissed, similar to the decision made by the Constitutional Court of BiH on January 22, when a request for a constitutional review was deemed inadmissible due to the Court's lack of jurisdiction. In that ruling, it was explicitly stated that a constitutional dispute between BiH and one of its entities only arises when it concerns an issue directly related to the Constitution of BiH, over which the Constitutional Court of BiH has exclusive jurisdiction. Additionally, such a dispute cannot stem from ordinary legal regulations; it must pertain to a specific issue regulated by the Constitution of BiH itself, which is not the case here. The National Assembly of Republika Srpska considers that this case concerns an "act of governance," that is, a political act of election and appointment which derives its legal basis from the Constitution of Republika Srpska, and therefore the Constitutional Court of BiH is not competent to assess the constitutionality of these decisions.