Bosnia’s Constitutional Court strongly condemned the latest conclusions by the country’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity parliament which challenge the Court’s work, call for complete disregard for the Court’s final and binding decisions, the blocking of its work as well as the resignation of the judge and Vice President of the Court Zlatko M. Knezevic. The Court said such unconstitutional action by the RS National Assembly (RSNA) is very serious pressure on the institution’s autonomy and independence.

The statement recalled that the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina was established by Article VI of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina as an independent guardian of the Constitution and as an institutional guarantor for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms established by the Constitution and the instruments of Annex I to the Constitution.

“With regard to everything stated above, we would like to point out that the RSNA has no basis for such actions in the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Therefore, there is neither any basis in any provision of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, nor of the entities, nor of any law in BiH, which allows the legislative bodies of the two entities to interfere in the work and jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court of BiH, including the impeachment of judges of the Constitutional Court,” the statement added.

In relation to the call for the resignation of Constitutional Court member Zlatko M. Knezevic, the statement recalled that, before taking office, each member of the Court makes a solemn declaration that they will adhere to the Constitution and laws of BiH in the performance of their duties and that the duty of the judge will be performed conscientiously and impartially, and exclusively in a personal capacity.