BANJALUKA – The vital national interest of Bosniaks has not been violated by the decision of the Republika Srpska Parliament to call a referendum on Republika Srpska Day or by the population census law which was adopted by the Republika Srpska Parliament, the Council for Protection of Vital National Interests of the Republika Srpska Constitutional Court ruled today. The Council also ruled that the vital national interest of Bosniaks was not violated by the Republika Srpska Law on Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The Council for Protection of Vital National Interest of the Republika Srpska Constitutional Court announced that considering the Republika Srpska Constitution and the allegations of the Bosniak Caucus and the Republika Srpska Parliament, it had determined that the disputed regulations of the law do not violate the vital national interests of the constituent Bosniak people.
The Council also ruled that the decision of the Republika Srpska Parliament to call a referendum on Republika Srpska Day, January 9, does not violate the vital national interest of the Bosniak people.
The Bosniak Caucus in the Republika Srpska Council of Peoples said in its request that the decision to call a referendum was contrary to the decision of the BiH Constitutional Court which had determined that January 9, Republika Srpska Day, was not in keeping with the BiH Constitution.
Having in mind this ruling, the Bosniak caucus said in their request that “January 9, Republika Srpska Day, which is unacceptable for the Bosniak people, must be abolished and cannot be celebrated as a holiday anymore, regardless of the will of the citizens and the Republika Srpska authorities.”
The Council is of the opinion that the applicant did not point to the violation of any of the rights from the scope of vital national interests of the constituent peoples the way they are defined by the Constitution.
The Council ruled today that the law on the processing and publication of the 2013 BiH population census results in Republika Srpska does not violate the vital national interest of the Bosniak people, since regulations of the disputed law do not pertain to any constituent people in particular nor do they discriminate against or favour any of these peoples.
The Council ruled that allegations that the legislative bodies overstepped their jurisdictions and pointing to the principle of hierarchy of general legal acts and potential membership of BiH in the EU cannot be the subject of evaluation by this Council.
