KOŠARAC: INCOMPLETE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT SHOULD ANNUL SCHMIDT'S IMPOSED CRIMINAL CODE AMENDMENTS IF IT ADHERES TO LAW

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, JUNE 29 /SRNA/ – If the incomplete Constitutional Court of BiH follows the law, the Constitution and basic democratic principles in reviewing the request submitted by the SNSD club in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska challenging provisions of the BiH Criminal Code imposed by Christian Schmidt, the only possible outcome would be to annul the imposed amendments, Deputy Chairperson of the Council of Ministers Staša Košarac has stated.

Košarac noted the fact that it took the Constitutional Court more than six months to place the request on its agenda indicates that the institution deliberately delayed the proceedings, while deciding other cases much more quickly.

"This is an opportunity for the incomplete Constitutional Court to demonstrate whether it protects the Constitution of BiH or the political will of an unelected foreign official," Košarac pointed out.

According to him, the Court's decision on the request will be a test of whether the rule of law still exists in BiH or whether the practice will continue whereby the will of an unelected foreign official is placed above the Constitution and the institutions that alone have the democratic legitimacy to enact laws.

Košarac stressed that the Constitution is clear in providing that laws may be enacted exclusively by the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, adding that no foreign official, including Christian Schmidt, has the constitutional authority to impose laws or amend existing criminal legislation.

"The Constitutional Court also has before it the opinion of the Constitutional-Legal Commission of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, which the Court itself requested, and which clearly states that the `High Representative` has no constitutional authority to enact or impose laws. There is no point even discussing the intervention of an unelected foreign official in domestic legislation," Košarac wrote on Instagram.

Košarac says the Constitutional Court's previous practice inspires little confidence, arguing that instead of protecting the constitutional order, the institution has, through its decisions, legitimized the erosion of the Constitution and the legal order in BiH.

After more than six months, the incomplete Constitutional Court of BiH has placed on its agenda a constitutional review of Christian Schmidt's interventions in the BiH Criminal Code.

The appeal filed by the SNSD club in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, seeking a constitutional review of certain provisions of the BiH Criminal Code imposed by Schmidt, is on the agenda of the incomplete Constitutional Court session scheduled for July 2–3.