Her Excellency the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Bosnia and Herzegovina Jana K. Lolić Šindelková paid a visit to the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina today.
Ambassador Šindelková was hosted by President of the Constitutional Court of BiH Seada Palavrić and the delegation of the Constitutional Court of BiH.
President Palavrić informed the Ambassador about a difficult situation of the Constitutional Court of BiH due to political pressure and attacks hindering its smooth work. In this connection, she noted that the relevant legislative authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina did not fulfil their fundamental constitutional obligations to fill vacancies for the positions of judges of the Constitutional Court of BiH, namely, two judges that should be selected by the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska, and one judge that should be selected by the House of Representatives of the Federation of BiH.
She also pointed out that the responsibility for around 10,000 pending appeals rested exclusively with the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, given that it failed to select the judges in accordance with the Constitution of BiH. The sessions of the Grand Chamber, at which only national judges make decisions on appeals of all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, cannot therefore be held. As a result, the Constitutional Court of BiH is able to resolve only one third of the appeals received, notably taking into account the fact that more than 4,000 new appeals have so far been received by the Constitutional Court of BiH in 2024.
Ambassador Šindelková noted that the Czech Republic supports the work of the Constitutional Court and added that the decisions of the Constitutional Court are very important in the legal system of Bosnia and Herzegovina, both for the protection of human rights and in the segment of the rule of law.
