KARAN: 913 STEPS TOWARD UNITARY BiH

BANJA LUKA, AUGUST 21 /SRNA/ - By their decisions, the High Representatives have been systematically undermining the Dayton Constitution for 30 years, with the sole aim of turning Republika Srpska into an administrative unit, destroying its constitutional capacities, and creating a unitary, “civic” but essentially Muslim BiH, in which the other two peoples would be completely assimilated, emphasized Professor of Constitutional Law Siniša Karan.

We are publishing Professor Karan’s column for SRNA in its entirety:

The strengthening of BiH, at the expense of the entities, facilitated by the international community, formally, legally, and in practice, represents a departure from the agreed Basic Principles signed in Geneva on September 8, 1995. Point 2 of the Basic Principles clearly states that “BiH shall consist of two entities: the Federation of BiH, established by the Washington Agreement, and Republika Srpska.”

It should be noted that the Constitutional Court of BiH assisted the High Representatives in this task by accepting their decisions as acts of domestic authority, thereby also contributing to the dismantling of BiH.

ALL DECISIONS OF THE HIGH REPRESENTATIVES ARE, AT THEIR CORE, A TRANSFER OF POWERS

All decisions of the High Representatives are essentially transfers of powers, and it is important to note that powers are a key element of any federal state; without the powers of federal units, there is no federation.

All High Representatives have exercised their authority selectively, very often imposing laws and other measures, and have almost continuously applied pressure and used blackmail in their dealings with domestic political structures.

It can be observed that the High Representatives, as well as the illegal /High Representative/ Christian Schmidt, not only passed laws when the authorities of BiH and the entities failed to do so on time, but also amended and repealed existing laws and other regulations that had been duly enacted by domestic authorities, if their content was deemed inappropriate.

Looking at the situation more broadly, considering the institutions established by decisions of the High Representatives, their role in reforms carried out by domestic authorities, and how they exercised that role, it can be concluded that the acts of the High Representatives and the illegal /High Representative/ Schmidt have largely contributed to a situation in which the legal system established by the Constitution of BiH in reality functions quite differently. The state established by the BiH Constitution is largely imaginary, particularly in terms of its sovereignty, while its reality resembles that of a protectorate.

A striking fact is the extent of interventions by the High Representatives and the illegitimate /High Representative/ Christian Schmidt in the constitutional-legal framework of BiH, totaling 913 decisions.

Looking at the individual actions of the High Representatives and the illegal Schmidt, it can be noted that Paddy Ashdown was the most active, issuing 409 decisions, followed by Wolfgang Petritsch with 237 imposed decisions. Carlos Westendorp issued 73, Christian Schwarz-Schilling 68, Miroslav Lajčak 31, and Valentin Inzko 70, while the illegitimate and illegal actions of Christian Schmidt resulted in 25 decisions.

The High Representatives and the illegitimate Christian Schmidt have imposed 128 decisions on symbols and other matters at the BiH level, including decisions that directly intervened in the Constitutions of Republika Srpska and BiH, affecting the constitutional, legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the country.

It is also important to highlight decisions imposing the Law on the Border Service, the Law on the Establishment of the Court of BiH, and decisions enacting the Law on Immunity for Republika Srpska, the Federation of BiH, and BiH as a whole. The most decisions in this area, a total of 59 during his mandate, were imposed by Paddy Ashdown.

Regarding decisions by the High Representatives and the illegitimate Christian Schmidt on economic matters, out of a total of 99 decisions, Westendorp imposed 9, Petritsch 36, Ashdown 34, Schwarz-Schilling 13, Lajčak 3, and Inzko and the illegal Schmidt 2 each.

Among others, the High Representatives have imposed the Decision on the Imposition of the Law on Telecommunications of BiH, the Decision on the Establishment of the BiH Accreditation Institute, the Decision imposing the Law on Metrology of BiH, the Decision enacting amendments and supplements to the Law on Financing the Institutions of BiH, and many more.

Out of a total of 186 decisions by the High Representatives and the illegitimate Christian Schmidt concerning legal reform, Paddy Ashdown intervened the most, with 128 decisions. Particularly significant in this area are the decisions establishing the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH and those that intervened in the entire criminal legislation.

Decisions by the High Representatives and the illegitimate Christian Schmidt concerning the Federation, Mostar, and the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton total 78 decisions, of which 41 were imposed by Ashdown.

The High Representatives have issued a total of 206 decisions on dismissals and suspensions. Analysis and the sequence of decisions in this area, as well as a review of the individuals removed, make it possible to trace the development of the High Representative’s interests and the expansion of their powers. It should be noted that this is the area in which the High Representative issued the largest number of decisions.

Through 19 decisions by the High Representatives concerning the media, new institutions in the field of communications and telecommunications were established. In 1998, the Independent Media Commission and the Communications Regulatory Agency were created. Then, in 2001, a decision by the High Representative merged the powers of the Independent Media Commission and the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency, creating a single regulatory body for communications under the name Communications Regulatory Agency, with authority over both electronic media and telecommunications.

The High Representatives have issued a total of 125 decisions on property laws, the return of displaced persons, and refugees, with Wolfgang Petritsch paying particular attention to this issue by imposing 58 decisions.

The High Representatives have also issued 72 decisions concerning individuals suspected of committing war crimes in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

UNCONSTITUTIONAL INSTITUTIONAL PARTICIPATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN THE AUTHORITIES OF BiH

The Constitution of BiH does not contain provisions regarding the institutional participation of the international community in the formation and functioning of the authorities of BiH, although such participation has been very present in practice, primarily through the existence and operation of the Peace Implementation Council, established by the London Declaration of December 1995.

Meetings of the Peace Implementation Council, or its Steering Board, are organized as conferences attended by representatives of the guarantor countries of the Dayton Peace Agreement /excluding Serbia and Croatia/, the signatory parties to the agreement, international representatives in BiH, or representatives of international organizations with mandates in BiH, and representatives of the host country. The exact schedule for these meetings is not determined in advance.

Some of the most significant conferences held to date include those in London /December 1996/, Sintra /May 1997/, Bonn /December 1997/, Luxembourg /June 1998/, Madrid /December 1998/, and Brussels /May 2000/. It is also worth mentioning the New York Declaration /November 1999/, as this act carried the weight of the previously listed conferences.

At some of these conferences, political positions were transformed into formal legal categories and powers, influencing the powers and functioning of BiH institutions in ways and forms unknown to the Constitution of BiH or the constitutions of the entities.

Thus, although primarily political acts, the conference declarations in practice acquired a completely different role, gaining the status of agreements that were later formalized, either through parliamentary procedures or outside them, in the form of decisions by the High Representative.

In this way, part of the international community conducts a continuous revision of the Dayton Peace Agreement, and judging by past practice, this is largely to the detriment of the entities. Such actions give a negative connotation to the role of the Council, since the revision of the Dayton Peace Agreement, like any treaty, can only be carried out by the signatory parties.

BiH – A PRIVATE STATE OF THE HIGH REPRESENTATIVES, INCLUDING THE UNFORTUNATE AND ILLEGITIMATE SCHMIDT

Powers are not a gift, but the result of a treaty. The Dayton Agreement is a treaty, and its violation by the High Representatives and BiH institutions poses a danger not only to BiH but also to international law as a whole.

The High Representatives, from the first to the last, including the unfortunate and illegitimate Schmidt, have dismantled everything and created their private state, a protectorate of unprecedented scale.

Republika Srpska seeks nothing more than what rightfully belongs to it, which is its constitutional position, recognized and confirmed by the Dayton Peace Agreement.

Therefore, we demand respect for what was signed in Dayton in 1995. Since the High Representatives and the unfortunate Schmidt have continuously undermined it for 30 years, the people themselves will ensure this, through a referendum as the most democratic means of expressing popular will.