The U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo urges members of the the Republika Srpska National Assembly to show their commitment to the Dayton Peace Agreement by refraining from adopting any declaration that would disregard the authority of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
To explicitly express intent not to implement the pending decision of the Constitutional Court in the case concerning the Law on Holidays of the RS, as three articles of the declaration currently under consideration do, clearly runs contrary to the rule of law. Any call for reviewing previous decisions of the BiH Constitutional Court would be similarly inappropriate, as the BiH Constitutional Court is an original and integral part of Annex four of the Dayton Peace Agreement — the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The U.S. Embassy views respect for rule of law by all parties in BiH as critical to the democratic process. Without this important legal framework and the stability it offers, other measures to address the economic and political challenges the country faces will be even more difficult.
