prijava
SARAJEVO, April 19 (FENA) - It is completely clear that the conclusions of the National Assembly of the RS, based on which yesterday's session was convened, do not have a general legal norm, and therefore do not have a binding character, said the Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina Denis Zvizdić, stating that almost all submitted conclusions from RSNA are unconstitutional, illegal and unenforceable.
First, as he pointed out, the decisions of the High Representative are published in the Official Gazette of BiH and are part of the legal order of BiH from the time they come into force. The last decision of the High Representative adopting the Law on Amendments to the Election Law and the correction of that decision were published on April 5, 2024, in the Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and given that it is stated that the law enters into force on the first day of its publication in the Official Gazette, it is clear is that this law, in the same way as all other laws in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is legally binding for all entities to which the law applies.
There were several attempts to challenge the validity of the High Representative's decisions but the Constitutional Court of BiH confirmed in several decisions that the laws passed by the High Representative are valid and have the same legal force as the laws passed by the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.
''In this regard, there is no constitutional-legal basis to declare the decisions of the High Representative Christian Schmidt illegal or null or to prohibit the BiH authorities from applying those decisions, nor to give the Official Gazette of BiH any order not to publish the decisions of the High Representative. Moreover, if the director of the Official Gazette of BiH refuses to publish the decision of the High Representative, he may be criminally liable,'' warns Zvizdić.
He also reminds that the BiH PA tried on several occasions to pass the Election Law of BiH in the part that concerns electoral integrity or the reform of the Central Election Commission but there was no political will, nor political consensus on that issue because it was insisted that in addition to technical changes, political changes that cannot be adopted without changing the Constitution of BiH.
What the Parliamentary Assembly can do, states Zvizdić, is to adopt until today, April 19, only those amendments to the Election Law as specified in the already valid Schmidt Law, namely Articles 76 to 81, 84 to 105, and Articles 111 and 112 concerning obligations regarding declarations of assets, citizens' bank accounts, transactions, and media advertising. That is the deadline that expires tomorrow and it is completely clear, as he points out, that it cannot be respected.
In connection with the proposal to adopt a declaration on the territorial integrity of BiH, it is a purposefully insufficient and anti-constitutional idea because the prerogatives that the Constitution of BiH gives exclusively to the State of BiH are deliberately avoided, which is not only territorial integrity but also sovereignty, political independence and international legal subjectivity.
''Article 1 of the Constitution of BiH clearly states that the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose name will henceforth be Bosnia and Herzegovina, will continue its legal existence - it is, therefore, about state continuity - according to international law as a state with an internal modified structure and with existing internationally recognized borders. Therefore, everything is prescribed by the Constitution as the highest legal act and there is no need for declarations on territorial integrity,'' Zvizdić assessed.
Regarding the future cooperation of political parties from the RS with political parties from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the announcement that there could be a change in the composition of the coalition, Zvizdić says that this is a political decision that he would not comment on at the moment, but he believes that it was made as a form of blackmail and pressure, especially on the Troika parties.
In connection with the idea of the RSNA passing its election law that will derogate from the state law, he emphasizes that it will certainly be subject to constitutional review and will almost certainly be declared unconstitutional. Zvizdić announces that he will use the constitutional right and be one of the applicants for the constitutionality review. As he noted, the OHR can also do that.
''I emphasize that those who sign and publish such a law risk being prosecuted,'' warned Zvizdić.
In the end, he states the conclusion that the BiH entity of the RS is committed to full respect and consistent application of international law and the Dayton Peace Agreement, which is declarative and in complete contrast to the way institutions and officials in the BiH entity of the RS act in practice.
He notes that BiH is big and wide enough for all nations and citizens living in it. We all know, he says, that entities are not states under international or domestic law. These are only administrative-territorial units within the integral and sovereign Bosnia and Herzegovina. For this reason, if the concrete legal-operational implementation of the RSNA conclusions were to be started, then Bosnia and Herzegovina as an internationally recognized and sovereign state would not be endangered, but the entities would be endangered because it is clear to everyone that the BiH entities Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH derive their subjectivity and legitimacy solely because they are recognized as such in the Constitution of BiH. If the constitutional order is violated, the BiH entities cease to exist and that is the only legal truth that needs to be said at this moment, he pointed out.
(FENA) A. B.
