By rejecting the appeal filed by President Milorad Dodik, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has destroyed the highest principle of democratic nations — the principle of constitutionality, said Professor of Constitutional Law Siniša Karan during his appearance on RTRS’s Aktuelno program.
“The principle of constitutionality is the supreme one because it protects the highest law of every state. With today’s decision, the Constitutional Court has destroyed everything — the regular judiciary, the fundamental principle on which constitutionality and legality rest, and the very rule of law itself. They have also violated the European Convention on Human Rights,” Karan stated.
He added that the Constitution of BiH contains one immutable provision — the guaranteed level of human rights and freedoms.
“And that, too, has been violated today. This is a sad day for all those who wanted to live together in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It raises the question of what remains of the 1995 agreement among the three constituent peoples. The Constitutional Court of BiH has today trampled on the will of the three nations to live together in BiH,” Karan said.
Karan emphasized that there is no doubt the consequences of this decision will be felt.
“Today the Constitutional Court had a simple choice — either Schmidt or the peoples who live here. Unfortunately, the Court, which was supposed to protect the very formula on which BiH was founded, chose Schmidt,” he stated.
From a legal standpoint, Karan concluded, it is now entirely clear that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country without a constitution.
“With today’s ruling, we can say that BiH no longer has a Constitution,” Karan concluded.
Earlier today, the incomplete Constitutional Court of BiH rejected the appeal filed by President Milorad Dodik’s legal team, which sought to declare unconstitutional the decisions of the first-instance and appellate panels of the Court of BiH that found Dodik guilty of “non-compliance with the decisions of the high representative.”
Source: RTRS
