BiH Presidency Chair Zeljko Komsic asked for the Venice Commission opinion regarding the method of election of judges of state Constitutional Court and a comparison with the practice in the countries of the Council of Europe, on March 15 of this year, his press office said.

The reason for seeking such an opinion is reflected in the fact that the provisions of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regulating the method of electing judges to the Constitutional Court of BiH, are not sufficiently precise and open the possibility for incompetent persons without any judicial experience to be appointed to the highest judicial institution in Bosnia.

Additionally, he claims that a wrong practice is being created to appoint judges to the Constitutional Court within the framework of some ethnic quotas, even though this is not prescribed by the Constitution. For these reasons, in which it is evident that in both cases the quality of the Constitutional Court itself is significantly undermined Komsic sent an opinion request to the Venice Commission, asking that the current system of appointing judges to the Constitutional Court be harmonized with European practice.

“Therefore, we call on all political and other actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina to refrain from any appointments to the Constitutional Court of BiH, until the Venice Commission, as the most important legal authority in Europe, delivers its opinion, which is planned for June 2024, after the Plenary Session of the Venice Commission. This is of particular importance because not respecting the opinion of the Venice Commission and not accepting European standards can threaten Bosnia’s European path,” Komsic’s press office said.