At the session of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HJPC of Bosnia and Herzegovina), the statement on the hiring of external experts to monitor the Department of Property Records was postponed until the opinion previously requested from Brussels arrives.
The council members postponed the statement on the engagement of external experts to monitor the Property Records Department for the next session. At the last session of the HJPC, a proposal was adopted that the members of the Council would comment on the engagement of external experts after sending a letter to Brussels with a request to harmonize the changes, after which they would vote on the Ordinance.
At the session, only technical changes to this rulebook were adopted in terms of numbering, not content.
HJPC President Sanin Bogunić said that he expects a positive opinion from Brussels. In a statement to journalists, he explained that according to the annex, the number of letters or data with international partners must be determined.
“We considered that after almost two years of application of that rulebook, it requires certain changes. We nominated four or five topics – above all, transparency. So, when hiring external experts, that should be published on the appropriate pages,” said Bogunić.
He also added that today there are experts who have extensive experience in the judiciary, and that previously, in the opinion of the Council, there were candidates who did not meet this requirement.
“We went to our colleagues in Brussels. In the meantime, we spoke with the head of the Department for the Extension of the Judiciary and we hope for very positive information, above all regarding the transparency of the process of hiring those people who, by law, are ultimately hired by the HJPC,” Bogunić said.
The President of the HJPC also referred to the letter of the judge of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sena Uzunović, to the Basic Court in Banja Luka for the implementation of the legal consequences of the verdict of Milorad Dodik in connection with the performance of the function of the president of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD).
Bogunić said first of all that this is a matter of hypotheticals, but he confirmed that he was informed by Judge Uzunović that a letter was sent to the Registration Court in Banja Luka.
“We will see what the judges of that court will do based on that letter,” commented Bogunić.
Dodik was sentenced to one year in prison and a security measure banning him from performing the duties of the President of the RS for six years, from the day the verdict became final, was imposed on him.
He was found guilty that from July 1 to July 9, 2023, in Banja Luka, knowingly and knowing that the High Representative Christian Schmidt made a decision preventing the entry into force of the Law on Non-Enforcement of the Decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina from July 1 of the same year, as well as the decision preventing the entry into force of the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Publication of Laws and Other Regulations of the RS, he undertook actions with the aim of continuing the legislative procedure, not applying and not implementing the decisions of the High Representative.
Earlier, the Basic Court in Banja Luka received an act of the Central Election Commission of BiH in which a letter from Judge Uzunović was delivered with judgments against the former president of Republika Srpska, in which it is stated that Milorad Dodik cannot even perform the function of party president.
In the continuation of today’s session, it is planned that the chief prosecutors of the state, entity and Brčko District Prosecutor’s Offices will submit their reports on their work, reports BIRN BiH.
