Case opened against RS Justice Minister over non-compliance with BiH Const Court

The Prosecutor’s Office told Detektor that the Constitutional Court of BiH submitted its ruling to the Prosecutor’s Office at the beginning of this month, following which it was “registered as a criminal case and assigned to a prosecutor.”

Earlier this month, the Constitutional Court issued a ruling on non-compliance with its decision to temporarily suspend the RS Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC). The Court stated at the time that it had concluded that Minister of Justice Milos Bukejlovic, by adopting a rulebook, had failed to comply with the final and binding decision regarding a temporary measure with retroactive effect.

"Thus, the Minister of Justice, as a responsible person, during the period of the temporary measure, had neither the authority nor the competence to adopt the rulebook, or any other act, nor to undertake any other actions based on the provisions of the RS HJPC Law, whose application was temporarily suspended," the Court previously stated.

According to the Constitutional Court, Bukejlovic was obliged to suspend all actions based on the law that was set aside, including steps to publish the adopted rulebook in the “Official Gazette of Republika Srpska.”

In its statement, the Court said that the ruling on non-compliance was immediately forwarded to the State Prosecutor’s Office after being issued, and noted that failure to comply entails criminal liability, namely a possible prison sentence ranging from six months to five years.

At the beginning of March, the Constitutional Court temporarily suspended the RS HJPC Law and all acts adopted on its basis until a final decision is made, citing that it “poses a serious threat to the already established judicial system.”

According to that decision, all employees and officials in RS institutions, as well as those in state institutions who come from RS, are prohibited from undertaking any actions based on this law.