KARAN: LIFE MAKES NORM, NOT VICE-VERSA

BANJA LUKA, MARCH 23 /SRNA/ - Every country must develop its own constitution that will rcorespond only to its social reality. That is precisely why the best constitution on earth is the one that corresponds to the life of a specific society, Siniša Karan, the professor of constitutional law, pointed out in an author's text for SRNA.

Karan has pointed out that there is no such thing as the best constitution in the world that should just be rewritten.

Below is full Professor Karan’s author's text:

Historically, all copied constitutions in the world, which did not correspond to social circumstances, have fallen. Therefore, only those states that wrote their constitution based on historical, cultural, social and real circumstances managed to defend themselves and live.

In the world, there are several aspects when it comes to multi-ethnicity.

The "happiest" are the countries where one nation is the majority. There are also states in which several deferent peoples live, which must by the nature of things be unitary, because no people can dominate.

However, there are states in which two or three nations are dominant and none of them can outvote the other and be dominant over the other. Tthese are multi-ethnic federations. The federal form of the state is the only way to solve the functioning of such multi-ethnic states.

Whether or not deeper relations will develop between peoples in such states will be determined by life, not by the constitution. A constitutional norm cannot reconcile or divide nations. Quite the opposite - when nations reconcile or divide, they create constitutional norms!

This means that life cannot be created artificially. Life makes the norm, not the norm life. I must emphasize that "norm" as much as it is a legal term, it is also a social one at the same time.

That is why we call on the social and academic community, all constitutional law experts, to give their answer as to what kind of society this is and, based on that, to give adequate answers as to what kind of constitution we need.

NEW CONSTITUTION WILL BE BOTH DYNAMIC AND STATIC ACT

The new Constitution of Republika Srpska, as a response to actual social circumstances, which has strength and the ability to live, is intended to be both a static and dynamic act. Statically, from the aspect that we should not touch the basics, i.e. the state being -the constitutional rights of the peoples and the sovereignty of two entities. Dynamically, it follows all real social trends, especially in the sphere of the economy, the development of human rights...

In 33 years, a different environment or common nation, like the Yugoslavs or the Americans, was not created. Society did not create such circumstances, because such circumstances are not created on the theory of the Serbs being aggressors that committed genocide, being war criminals, on the theory of the Serbs being demolishers and others being builders.

We must not forget that in 1995, when the Serb representatives signed the Dayton Peace Agreement, the signature was written with the blood of fallen soldiers and civilians that fell during the Patriotic – Defensive War. That signature is still fresh today.

REAL SOCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE CONSTITUTION, NOT FORCE AND ARTIFICIAL MANNER

I will repeat, the constitution is always a reflection of social circumstances. It can never create social circumstances. It is not the constitution that makes life, but vice-versa. Of course, no constitution is a holy letter, it is amendable, only by real social circumstances, not by force and artificially.

Republika Srpska was oppressed all these years. One thought that they would artificially create a unitary civil state into which Srpska would be absorbed. That one did not count on our real and visible strength, which is called the people and institutions of Republika Srpska.