Nenad Stevandić, the president of the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska, stated tonight that the remaining members of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina are playing their own political games by declaring that Article 280a of the Criminal Code of the Republika Srpska is not in line with the Bosnia and Herzegovina Constitution.
Stevandić emphasized that Republika Srpska has decided how to approach the decisions of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Constitutional Court and the illegal High Representative.
“So, I think we don’t need to show any exaggerated reaction,” Stevandić noted.
Commenting on the call from the Bosnia and Herzegovina Constitutional Court to the National Assembly of Republika Srpska and the House of Representatives of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to promptly appoint the missing judges to the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Stevandić stated that the Constitutional Court should be aware that its purpose is to serve the peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and not the other way around.
“They seem to understand that the existence of Bosnia and Herzegovina is for their work, and everyone should serve them, including parliaments. They fail to realize that they have precisely violated the structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina, decision-making processes, and the principles of Dayton. So, this call is probably a result of that kind of frustration and misunderstanding,” Stevandić stated for Srna.
The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina claims that Article 280a of the Criminal Code of Republika Srpska is not in line with the Bosnia and Herzegovina Constitution and the European Convention. During a plenary session held without the participation of any judge from the Serb people, the court annulled the contested provision of that law because “the scope of acts that can be considered punishable under that article (violation of the reputation of Republika Srpska and its peoples) questions the proportionality of interference through criminal sanctions.”
The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina called on the National Assembly of Republika Srpska and the House of Representatives of the Federation of BiH to promptly appoint the missing judges to the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to enable its smooth functioning. It was also concluded during the plenary session that the Constitutional Court would prepare an appropriate strategy in the coming period to ensure its further uninterrupted functioning.
Source: RTRS
