“We express our regret due to the fact that an internal consensus could not be reached in Bosnia and Herzegovina concerning this important issue and that the Decision, which is in the best interest of each citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, had to be imposed,” the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Republika Srpska (RS) Government announced that it will ask the RS National Assembly to debate the organising of a referendum for RS citizens to express their views regarding the High Representative’s Decision.
Valentin Inzko, the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, said a referendum will not be organized, because his Decision “is not against the Republika Srpska or the Federation”, i.e. “it is not aimed against anybody”.
On December 14, Inzko issued a Decision, unanimously supported by the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council, extending for another three years the mandate of international judges and prosecutors involved in war-crimes cases.
The mandate of judges and prosecutors working with the Special Section for Organized and Economic Crime and Corruption at the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its Prosecution has not been extended, but they have been given an opportunity to stay on as advisors.
Snezana Savic, a member of the Constitutional Issues Board of the RS National Assembly, said that the High Representative’s Decision shows that “Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a state and it does not fulfill the basic European principles of democracy and rule of law.”
On the other hand, Kasim Trnka, a constitutional law expert from Sarajevo, noted that the legality of the Decision cannot be questioned because the Dayton Peace Accords regulate the role of the international community, which is officially represented in the country by the High Representative.
“These statements coming from the RS are destructive and anti-constitutional,” Trnka said in a statement to Justice Report.
Commenting on the possibility of organizing a referendum, Trnka said that the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not prohibit any institution “to ask for decisions” within its competencies. However, he said that the issue of extension of mandates of international judges and prosecutors “is the State’s affair”, so the Entities do not have legal grounds for organizing a referendum.
The Democratic National Union, DNS, argues that the High Representative’s Decision flies in the face of efforts made by political parties in the RS to establish “a balance in assessing the events that took place in the past armed conflicts”.
The day after the mandate extension Decision was issued, the High Representative met with Milorad Barasin, Chief Prosecutor with the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and publicly supported his stand that competent judicial institutions should ensure the necessary preconditions for employing an adequate number of local prosecutors, who would then ensure the continuity of this institution.
“The International Community is ready to help with funds and know-how and will continue to support the Court and Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including by reinforcing the existing international advisory presence in the Special Department for Organized Crime,” the Office of the High Representative announced.
Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for External Affairs and Security Policy, and Olli Rehn, EU Enlargement Commissioner, greeted the Decision issued by Inzko.
“We fully support the High Representative’s Decision to extend the mandate of international judges and prosecutors in the war-crimes sections until December 31, 2012. This is the right decision made at the right time. However, we regret the fact that the local authorities failed to act in a timely manner. It is now of key importance to urgently create conditions that would enable Bosnia and Herzegovina to fulfill its international obligations related to war-crimes processing,” a statement issued by Ashton and Rehn said.
The Decision extending the mandate of international judges and prosecutors was issued by the High Representative after the State Parliament failed to adopt Changes and Amendments to the Law on Court and Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The mandate of international personnel was due to expire at the end of this year.
The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council says that, in the coming period, it will select and appoint judges and prosecutors who will fill the positions, vacated after the departure of some international staff members, so the Court and Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina will have the capacity to uninterruptedly continue working on war-crimes cases in which the international judges and prosecutors were involved.
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