PETRONIJEVIĆ: BiH COURT OPERATES LIKE HAGUE TRIBUNAL, BY RULES, NOT BY LAW

EAST SARAJEVO, NOVEMBER 13 /SRNA/ - Lawyer Goran Petronijević has said that in the case against Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik and the acting director of the Official Gazette Miloš Lukić, the Court of BiH is beginning to operate in the same manner as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia /ICTY/, by following rules rather than the law itself.

Petronijević emphasized at a press conference in East Sarajevo that there is a clear and troubling lack of preparedness on the part of the Prosecutor's Office and an abuse of procedural rights, which the Court of BiH is tolerating, and this is evident. "We have a source of law, which is the law itself, and that source can also be judicial practice. Around twenty years ago, in international law, those who considered themselves the strongest invented rules that replaced everything called law," emphasized Petronijević. According to him, the difference between law and rules is that behind rules stands force, one or more, while behind law stands consent and agreement that what is agreed upon is written and respected. "That is a huge difference. If you replace law with rules, you have destroyed international law," Petronijević said. He asked any lawyer to find, in the Vienna Convention that regulates diplomatic activity and cooperation between countries under international law, any institution that resembles the institution of the High Representative in any way. "The invention of that institution, giving it powers that do not exist and are not possible, and making it a substitute for state bodies, represents the destruction of the state, even though they believe that in this way they are helping it function," said Petronijević. According to him, there is a possibility, when international agreements are made, that an authority may be formed for a limited period of time to oversee the beginning of the implementation of what has been agreed, but nothing more. "It monitors and informs the international body or institution, in this case, the UN Security Council, whether it is being implemented or not, and that's the end of it. Anything beyond that is what we call rules. Not law, but rules," explained Petronijević. He said that the result of this is the distorted legal system that has been established in BiH. "Here, you now have courts, constitutional courts, and prosecutors' offices that are formed based on rules, not based on law, especially international law. This has not been seen before. Globalism is falling, sovereignty is rising, you saw the results of elections in America, and you will see the results of elections in Europe," said Petronijević. According to him, sovereignty is advancing, and this is a process that will change the configuration of the world in the next five years. "I fear that the message has not yet reached here, that something is happening. I would like them to realize as soon as possible that what they have been doing so far and what has been happening here, in terms of violating rights, trampling on international law, can no longer be done," concluded Petronijević.