The Constitutional Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina on July 24 temporarily suspended an election law passed by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska in April, sparking negative reaction by the international community and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission to Bosnia.
The court declared the law “temporarily invalid,” saying that the decision will stay in place until the Constitutional Court makes a final decision.
The suspension came in a case to assess the compliance of Republika Srpska’s election law with the constitution of Bosnia. Denis Zvizdic, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives of the Bosnian parliament, requested the court make the assessment.
The Constitutional Court said the case brings up "a very serious and complex issues regarding the constitutionality of the contested election law of [Republika Srpska].”
It said the entity’s new election law regulates issues that are already regulated by the election law of Bosnia and transfers the competences of the Bosnian Central Election Commission to the lower-level entity commission, invalidating at the same time some provisions of the state level election law.
OSCE Chairman Ian Borg and Secretary-General Helga Marie Schmid said in their criticism of the election law that the establishment of parallel structures that undermine the overall security and stability of the country are against the constitutional order of Bosnia.
The court's decision on July 24 said it must resolve the question of whether the National Assembly of Republika Srpska has the authority to differently regulate areas that are already regulated at the state level in Bosnia.
The court therefore considers that there are valid concerns that the disputed law could violate the constitutional order and political stability of Bosnia, the court said.
This is sufficient to determine the existence of the possibility of "irreversible adverse consequences" if the Constitutional Court of Bosnia does not temporarily suspend the law, the court stated, adding that the temporary measure does not prejudge the final decision on the constitutionality of this law.
The court considers that election regulations represent one of the key areas for ensuring free, fair, and transparent elections that reflect the will of the citizens, the court said. Bosnia is preparing for local elections on October 6.
The court said that the implementation of the election law ahead of this year’s elections “would seriously undermine the role of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia-Herzegovina." It added that implementing the law ahead of upcoming local elections "could cause irreparable damage to the democratic election process, legal stability, and threatened the legitimacy of the electoral process."