Republika Srpska’s Deputy Minister of Justice Nikola Kovacevic said on Thursday that Federation leaders are holding up the adoption of a new law on the BiH Constitutional Court. Participants in the Structured Dialogue on Justice, including representatives of the Federation, have agreed that a new law must be passed soon to address problems with the Court, in particular the Court’s arbitrarily-expanded jurisdiction and the continuing presence of foreign judges. The foreign members of the court often vote with the Court’s Bosniak judges to overrule the Serb and Croat members.
“The BiH Council of Ministers and governments of Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH stated in the Justice Sector Reform Strategy that the law on the Constitutional Court should be passed in the first quarter of 2016, which has not been done,” said Kovacevic.
He recalled that the five-year term of foreign judges of the BiH Constitutional Court had long expired.
“According to the BiH Constitution, the state parliament may pass a new law on the Constitutional Court that will regulate the election of judges in a different manner, meaning that foreigners will no longer be able to work in the institution,” said Kovacevic.
The BiH Parliamentary Assembly was supposed to pass a new law on the Constitutional Court by now, he said.
