SRPSKA THE ONLY DEFENDER OF THE DAYTON-BASED BiH'S CONSTITUTIONAL ORDER

BANJA LUKA, MAY 30 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska is the only true defender of the Dayton-based BiH, even though many do not understand this or choose to ignore it, emphasized Professor of Constitutional Law Siniša Karan.

"The fact is simple: The Constitution of BiH has not been amended for thirty full years. However, the constitutional reality has changed – unconstitutionally - through imposition, threats, pressures, and abuse, without the consent of the entities, without respect for the people's will and democratic process," Karan emphasized.

We fully cover the original article by Professor Karan for SRNA:

"Today we have a situation in which BiH functions as something that legally does not exist. For example, BiH is probably the only country in the world that has a Court and a Prosecutor’s Office at the level of the state community, even though they are not provided for by the Constitution.

These institutions were not created by law but by decisions of High Representatives, who, under that same Constitution, do not have the authority to enact laws. What is imposed is not legitimate and not democratic.

The Constitution of BiH precisely and unambiguously defines the competencies of the state community. Anything beyond that framework can only exist if both entities give consent. That is the fundamental principle on which BiH rests.

It is important to note that Republika Srpska, as one of the signatories of Annex Four, still calls on the Federation of BiH for political and constitutional agreement.

LAWS ARE SRPSKA'S INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES TO DECADES-LONG LEGAL VIOLENCE

None of the laws recently reviewed by the Constitutional Court of BiH are accidental or provocative. They were enacted to prevent unconstitutional activities of unconstitutional and anti-Dayton institutions.

These are institutional responses of Republika Srpska to decades-long legal violence suffered from parts of the international community, High Representatives, the unfortunate German diplomat Christian Schmidt, the Strasbourg Court, the unconstitutional Court and Prosecutor’s Office, and the Constitutional Court of BiH. These laws defend Srpska's constitutional-legal, political, and overall security order.

The acts of the Republika Srpska National Assembly were not passed on political whims but from constitutional responsibility.

According to the Constitution of BiH, sovereignty belongs to the peoples and the entities, not to foreigners, not to High Representatives, not to judges without legitimacy, but to the peoples. That sovereignty is expressed through elections and institutions, not through impositions and interventions.

I remind you that entity sovereignty is expressed through the independent organisation of the entity structure, the creation of its legal order, and the exercise of power within each entity individually. Entities hold part of the state power through the authority to make binding decisions and implement them, they have their own constitution, legislation, judiciary, administration, and finances.

SRPSKA'S LEGISLATIVE WILL NOT SHAPED IN DIPLOMATIC SALONS BUT IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Republika Srpska is not an administrative unit; it is a constitutional category, so when Srpska makes decisions, it does so on behalf of its people, not as dictated.

Therefore, the legislative will of Republika Srpska is not shaped in diplomatic salons but in the National Assembly, the highest representative and legislative body composed of legitimately elected MPs, the bearers of the sovereign will of the citizens.

It is precisely that people's will which is above all else, and no institution, not even the Constitutional Court of BiH - especially one lacking full membership -has the right to infringe upon it.

These representatives are not self-proclaimed authorities nor appointed from outside, but were elected directly and democratically by the people.

Their jurisdiction stems directly from the Constitution, and their responsibility is to the citizens, not to foreign centres of power. Therefore, the laws they pass have full constitutional and democratic legitimacy.

The laws challenged by the Constitutional Court are entirely legitimate, constitutional, and serve to protect the powers guaranteed to Republika Srpska by the Dayton Peace Agreement.

BiH IS NEITHER UNITARY NOR MONONATIONAL, BUT A COMPLEX STATE UNION OF TWO ENTITIES AND THREE EQUAL PEOPLES

If someone in official Sarajevo is bothered by the fact that Republika Srpska acts within the Dayton and the Constitution, then the problem lies in their understanding of the state. BiH is neither a unitary nor a monoethnic state; BiH is a complex state union composed of two entities and three equal peoples, whether someone likes it or not.

For three decades, various occupiers in BiH have acted unconstitutionally, informally, and beyond any constitutional logic, creating a reality where the Dayton has been abandoned in nearly every aspect, all under the guise of reforms aimed primarily at the unitarization of BiH - i.e. shaping BiH as exclusively a state of the Bosniak people. In reality, it was a gradual dismantling of what the Serb people accepted in Dayton.

To be clear, Republika Srpska accepted the Dayton-based BiH, not any other imposed or institutionally altered version.

The Constitutional Court of BiH, defending political Sarajevo, supported by experienced initiators of constitutional appeals against Srpska, has been used as a tool to destroy the constitutional order and the state itself. It is undeniable that this Constitutional Court makes decisions exclusively against Serbs and Srpska, regardless of the appeal subject.

Over time, the Constitutional Court has, through linguistic interpretations of constitutional provisions, interpreting the "spirit of the Constitution" through a unitary-civic lens, legal interpretations based on the same principle, and the introduction of constitutional practices aligned with eliminating BiH's fundamental constitutional definition as a complex ethno-civic state and its entities as a substantial element, created a new framework suitable for making decisions dictated by the Bosniak political elite.

INCOMPLETE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT CONTINUES TO CARRY OUT AGENDA TO STRIP SRPSKA OF ITS POWERS

In this context, practice shows that the incomplete and institutionally deficient Constitutional Court has taken it upon itself to decide the fate of an entire entity, Republika Srpska.

Three foreign judges, who are accountable to no one in this country and who lack democratic legitimacy, are making rulings on the internal organisation and competencies of Republika Srpska, while local judge - without Serb votes - are carrying out pre-prepared political agendas.

Despite all warnings from the expert community about the clearly illegal actions of this court, it is evident that the Constitutional Court of BiH continues to openly carry out the agenda of stripping Republika Srpska of its powers.

Republika Srpska will not accept this incomplete court determining our fate through constitutional deception, nor will it accept that laws passed by Srpska under the Dayton authorities be suspended by an institution lacking both legality and legitimacy.

Republika Srpska knows its rights well and will defend them calmly, institutionally, and legally - without hesitation. Respect for the Dayton Constitution is not a matter of goodwill but the foundation of BiH's survival as a shared state.

And this disgrace that today bears the name Constitutional Court of BiH will go down in history as the institution that unsuccessfully tried to suppress the will of the people."