MITROVIĆ: ĆEMAN DOES NOT DISTINGUISH LEGITIMACY FROM LEGALITY

BANJA LUKA, MAY 15 /SRNA/ – The President of the Constitutional Court of BiH Mirsad Ćeman who claims that the court acts and makes decisions legitimately, obviously does not understand basic concepts such as legitimacy and legality, law professor LJubinko Mitrović told SRNA.

"A court that lacks two judges from Republika Srpska cannot in any case be legitimate, regardless of whether it may formally be legal. Therefore, as long as there are no judges from Republika Srpska in this court, its decisions are clearly illegitimate," Mitrović said. On the other hand, Mitrović stated, Ćeman should ask the competent institutions of Republika Srpska to appoint judges from Republika Srpska not because of himself or the legitimacy and legality of "his" court, but because, according to available data, the Constitutional Court of BiH has more than 17,000 unresolved cases. "And finally, that court has long ceased to be his; he has been retired since December 1, 2025. If he had any morality at all, he would be spending his time with his grandchildren rather than dealing with the court and distorted judicial practices," Mitrović remarked. He recalled that Ćeman should have retired after December 1 of last year, but that through an act adopted by the Constitutional Court he remained in his position. "All of us who once took the Introduction to Law exam in the first year of law school know that a bylaw, according to the rules of the Constitutional Court, cannot amend the Constitution as the highest legal act of a country. Ćeman knows this as well," Mitrović concluded. Ćeman stated today at a press conference in Sarajevo that the court continues to act and issue decisions legitimately despite the absence of judges from Republika Srpska. He appealed to institutions in Republika Srpska and the FBiH to appoint the missing judges who would replace him and Valerija Galić following their retirement, adding that the "judicial deficit is the reason for the drastic reduction in the number of resolved appeals".