Attack on the constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the legal secession of the RS

The Office of the High Representative in BiH (OHR) condemned the adoption of a new law in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska on the inapplicability of decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH in that entity as an attack on the constitutional order, while experts describe the law as "legal secession".

"The attempt of the National Assembly of the RS (NSRS) to undermine the authority of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is an unacceptable offense against the Dayton Peace Agreement, a serious challenge to the rule of law in the RS and an attack on the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina," the OHR pointed out. "These decisions are illegal. Milorad Dodik is most responsible for this. The Republika Srpska must respect its obligations under the Dayton Peace Agreement - which means full respect for the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina in accordance with Annex 4," the statement said.

In the National Assembly of the RS on Tuesday, thanks to the votes of Dodik's Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) and part of the opposition, it was voted that the legal acts of the Constitutional Court of BiH will not be implemented on their territory until the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH passes a law on the Constitutional Court.

"This is the long-announced legal secession in Bosnia and Herzegovina," said Nedim Ademović, an expert on constitutional law, adding that the vote in the RS National Assembly will cause "the deepest crisis since the entry into force of the Dayton Peace Agreement."

The voting took place after the Constitutional Court of BiH changed the rules of its work, according to which court sessions can be held without at least three judges appointed by the Parliament of the Federation of BiH and at least one judge appointed by the Parliament of the RS.

Members of the RS demand that the BiH Parliament pass the Law on the Constitutional Court of BiH, according to which foreign judges would be eliminated from that court, of which there have been three since the signing of the Dayton Agreement. The Constitutional Court has a total of nine judges, and apart from three foreigners, four judges, two Bosniaks and Croats each, are appointed by the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and two Serbian judges are elected by the National Assembly of the RS, Beta agency reminds.

Dodik requests that six judges from the Federation and three judges from the RS be appointed by the law on the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the provision that decisions in the court are not made by simple majority, as it is now defined by the Constitution, but by consensus.

It was also voted that Serbian representatives in state institutions will not participate in negotiations on reforms necessary for the integration of BiH into the EU until the Constitutional Court is reformed and the Office of the High Representative is closed.

"This is the long-announced legal secession in Bosnia and Herzegovina," Nedim Ademović, an expert on constitutional law, told Reuters, adding that it will cause "the deepest crisis since the entry into force of the Dayton Peace Agreement."

Bosniak member of the BiH presidency, Denis Bećirović, called on Šmit to sanction Dodik and his allies for undermining the peace agreement.

"As a member of the Presidency, I leave seven days to the international community, and especially to the witnesses of the Dayton Peace Agreement, to stop the killing of the Dayton Peace Agreement. Yesterday's decision by the NSRS dealt the heaviest blow to the Agreement," Bećirović said in a statement.

Bećirović, as reported by Radio Free Europe, stated that the actions of Dodik and "his followers are a disaster for the entity of RS and for the state, but also for the region". "The only winner is Putin's regime, they must be aware of that in the West as well," said Bećirović.

The decision of the RS Assembly was condemned by the United States Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, calling it a "reckless attack" on the Dayton Agreement and the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The British embassy said that "it is not a wise move and can only be useful to those who play political games at the expense of human lives.

The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Bosnia and Herzegovina supported the law adopted by the RS Assembly, stating that it "represents the logical result of the inadequate actions of the Court itself".

The High Representative of the International Community for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kristijan Šmit, who was in Berlin in the past few days on the occasion of a meeting with members of the Bundestag's Foreign Policy Committee and participation in a conference on reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that Dodik was leading that entity into isolation and announced that he would oppose his actions. resort to all the mechanisms available to him under the Dayton Agreement.

"Sometimes I wonder what Dodik has in mind as a model for the Republika Srpska. Transnistria? He is leading his entity into isolation, and I think the time will come when the citizens of the Republika Srpska will start asking him questions," said Šmit in an interview published yesterday for " Mother said".