BUDIMIR: WE WILL TAKE LEGAL STEPS AGAINST DECISION OF "INCOMPLETE" CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF BiH

BANJA LUKA, MARCH 30 /SRNA/ – Republika Srpska Minister of the Interior Željko Budimir stated that Republika Srpska will take measures provided by law and the constitution as soon as the decision of the "incomplete" Constitutional Court of BiH is published, by which three articles of the Law on Police and Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska are declared unconstitutional.

Budimir emphasized that the "incomplete" Constitutional Court of BiH did not make its decision in accordance with the Constitution and that this represents another attack on the competences of Republika Srpska. In a statement to journalists in Banja Luka, he said that the first two disputed articles concern the digital signature and the establishment of infrastructure for issuing digital signatures, as well as issuing qualified certificates related to digital identity. "This is another attack on the competences of Republika Srpska, a very sensitive attack on the Ministry of the Interior. The two articles of the Law being challenged relate to electronic signatures and the original competences of the Ministry of the Interior of Republika Srpska, which are being transferred to the Agency for Identification Documents, Registers and Data Exchange, whose role is to technically maintain data, information, and archive them," Budimir explained. According to him, the third issue, perhaps the most serious in this attack, is the competence of the Ministry of the Interior regarding international cooperation, where, literally, foreign affairs are being equated with international cooperation. "Foreign affairs and international cooperation are not the same. Therefore, granting this type of competence to the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies is an attempt to undermine the constitutional system, i.e. a police reform similar to what was attempted in 2007. The Directorate is responsible for coordinating BiH agencies, not for acting within BiH," Budimir specified. Last week, the "incomplete" Constitutional Court of BiH issued several decisions concerning Republika Srpska in response to requests for constitutional review, including declaring the Draft Constitution of Republika Srpska and several articles of the Law on Police and Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska unconstitutional.