prijava
SARAJEVO, April 27 (FENA) - The fact that the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska (RSNA) is demanding the resignation of a judge of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Zlatko M. Knežević) shows that they have decided to exert political pressure on the Constitutional Court, which is an independent judicial institution, assessed a Professor Emeritus of Constitutional Law Kasim Trnka, who commented for FENA the latest attempt to question the state institutions of BiH from the RS entity, i.e. the unconstitutional actions of the RSNA in the context of serious pressure on the independence of the Constitutional Court of BiH.
"First of all, of course, they have no right to ask for it, because the Constitutional Court of BiH is, according to its own position and composition, an independent institution in which there is no mention of entity representation, nor belonging to constituent peoples," explains Trnka.
Furthermore, it specifies that two judges are elected in the RS, and four in the FBiH, and that the decisions, when it comes to the Grand Chamber of the Constitutional Court of BiH, are made by a supermajority of five judges.
"When it comes to the Small Chamber, there could possibly be certain problems if Judge Knežević were to resign, although I believe in his moral integrity and that he will not succumb to political pressure," Trnka pointed out.
If this were to happen, Trnka is of the opinion that it will not significantly affect the functioning of the Constitutional Court of BiH, because five judges are enough to make decisions, and there is no insistence on entity affiliation or the participation of constituent peoples.
When asked about the claim of the President of the RSNA Nenad Stevandić, that the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina would be delegitimized by the withdrawal of the judge from the RS, Trnka is of the opinion that this is completely misleading and contrary to the facts, that is, that the aforementioned procedure delegitimizes the National Assembly of the RS itself, which is the one that exerts political pressure on the independent judicial institution.
He stated, at the same time, that the actions of the RSNA, apart from certain political ones, have no legal consequences.
At a session on Wednesday, the RSNA adopted a conclusion which, among other things, disputes the work of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, calls for the complete disregard for its final and binding decisions and calls for a blockade of the work of the Constitutional Court, and the resignation of the judge/vice president of this court, Zlatko M. Knežević.
The RSNA also passed a conclusion instructing representatives from the RS in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH to prepare and submit the law on the Constitutional Court of BiH as soon as possible into the parliamentary procedure, which will define the composition of the Constitutional Court of BiH without the participation of foreign judges.
(FENA) S. R.
