KOVAČEVIĆ: DODIK HAS PREVENTED ALL ATTEMPTS TO CENTRALIZE JUDICIARY IN BiH

BANJA LUKA, JULY 19 /SRNA/ - The results of the negotiations clearly show that President Milorad Dodik does not compromise when it comes to the powers of Republika Srpska, and that all attempts to centralize the judiciary and create new supreme and higher courts at the BiH level have been prevented, the SNSD said on its Instagram account.

"The goal is clear — the Appellate Division is being moved to Republika Srpska, without any expansion of Sarajevo’s powers or interference in the institutions of Srpska. President Milorad Dodik initiated this process, and the goal will be achieved in full," the SNSD stated. A video was also published in which Šefik Džaferović confirmed at a session of the House of Peoples that the process began with the Court of BiH and a higher court, then moved to the Appellate Court of BiH, and eventually reached the Appellate Division of the Court of BiH, adding that this was the work of the SNSD, HDZ, and the "Troika" coalition. Kovačević said that it was surprising, but that he wanted to thank Džaferović for very concisely outlining all the successes in the negotiations that Milorad Dodik had achieved. "Let us recall that, initially, there was a demand for a Supreme Court that would oversee the entire judiciary in BiH, including in Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH, but Milorad Dodik managed to remove that from the agenda. Then there was a demand that it not be called a Supreme Court, but a Higher Court, which would have been the same as a Supreme Court, only with a different name, and Milorad Dodik removed that from the agenda as well," Kovačević said. Kovačević said that a new judicial instance called an Appellate Court was then proposed, with its own separate budget, but that Milorad Dodik removed that from the agenda as well, ensuring that it would only be an Appellate Division and agreeing that this Appellate Division would be based in Republika Srpska. "There was a demand to expand the jurisdiction of the Court of BiH, but Milorad Dodik removed that from the agenda as well, and the expansion of the Court of BiH’s jurisdiction was completely abandoned. This is the task we will manage to complete in this way, namely, separating the Appellate Division, moving its seat to Republika Srpska, without any expansion of the Court of BiH’s jurisdiction and without any interference in the clearly defined jurisdictions of the entity courts," Kovačević emphasized.