SELAK: INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS CANNOT OVERRIDE LAW

BANJA LUKA, NOVEMBER 3 /SRNA/ – Republika Srpska Minister of Justice Goran Selak has stated that if the Constitutional Court of BiH decides in accordance with legal norms, it will grant the appeal of President Milorad Dodik against the verdict of the Court of BiH.

"If the rule of law applies and decisions are made based on legal norms, it is clear that no individual can change laws or the Constitution by their own decision. That is why it will be interesting to see what kind of decision will be made by the lawyers who sit as judges of the Constitutional Court," Selak told reporters in Banja Luka. At an extraordinary session of the Constitutional Court of BiH, scheduled for tomorrow, the appeal filed by President Milorad Dodik against the verdict of the Court of BiH will be considered. The Court of BiH sentenced Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik to one year in prison and imposed a six-year ban on political activity for "failing to comply with the decisions of Christian Schmidt". Dodik was tried for a criminal offense that was introduced into the BiH Criminal Code based on Schmidt's decision. The appeal against the Court of BiH verdict was filed with the Constitutional Court of BiH because that is a necessary step for the case to reach the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In addition to this appeal, President Dodik's legal team also submitted to the Constitutional Court of BiH an appeal against the decision of the Central Election Commission of BiH to revoke the president's mandate and call early elections for the President of Republika Srpska.