In a letter to top officials in Bosnia’s Federation (FBiH) entity, the High Representative of the international community in the country called for the urgent appointment of judges to the FBiH Constitutional Court.

Christian Schmidt, who is tasked with overseeing the civilian implementation of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement in BiH, wrote to the FBiH President, Marinko Cavara, Vice Presidents, Milan Dunovic and Melika Mahmutbegovic, and members of the joint collegium of the FBiH Parliament.

“I am writing to you deeply disappointed by the continued failure to appoint judges to the four vacant seats of the Constitutional Court of the Federation of BiH and its Vital Interest Panel, which has direct implications on the ability of the Constitutional Court and its Vital Interest Panel to exercise their constitutional responsibilities,” Schmidt wrote.

Schmidt added that, with only four out of seven judges, the Vital Interest Panel does not have a quorum and is blocked.

The international official pointed out that Bosnia’s top judicial institution, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC), submitted a list of candidates for all pending vacancies to the FBiH President and Vice Presidents, “including on 16 October 2019, the list of successful candidates for the vacancies of three judges, and then one more list of successful candidates for an additional judge on 26 February 2022.”

“To date, you have not nominated any of those judges as required under the Constitution of the Federation of BiH. This clearly constitutes a failure to perform your constitutional responsibilities,” he wrote.

“I, therefore, urge you to complete, without further delay, the nomination of judges to the vacant seats. Only by acting in compliance with the Constitution of the Federation of BiH can you demonstrate your commitment to finding positive solutions to this country’s problems,” Schmidt’s letter concluded.