Composition of The Court
The Constitutional Court consists of nine judges, out of which four are selected by the House of Representatives of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, two are selected by National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska, and the remaining three members are selected by the President of the European Court of Human Rights after consultation with the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Article VI.1.a).
The Constitution also states (Article VI.1.b) that the judges must be "distinguished jurists of high moral standing", and that any eligible voter so qualified may serve as a judge of the Constitutional Court. The judges selected by the President of the European Court of Human Rights cannot be citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina or of any neighbouring state.
The term of judges that were initially appointed was five years, and were not eligible for reappointment. Judges subsequently appointed could serve until age 70, unless they resigned or were removed for cause by consensus of the other judges. The Constitution also states that for appointments made more than five years after the initial appointment of judges, the Parliamentary Assembly could provide by law for a different method of selection of the three judges selected by the President of the European Court of Human Rights, however it has still not changed that.
It should also be noted that the Constitution does not require the proportionality of the "constituent peoples" in the Court, however a constitutional custom developed by which a Constitutional court should have two judges from every of the constituent peoples (Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats), besides the three foreign judges.
Current composition of the Court:
- President: Seada Palavrić
- Vice-President: David John Feldman
- Vice-President: Valerija Galić
Judges:
- Miodrag Simović
- Tudor Pantiru
- Mato Tadić
- Constance Grewe
- Mirsad Ćeman
- One member pending election
The way the judges are selected has created controversies over the years. Since there are no other criteria or formal guidelines besides the criteria that judges should be "distinguished jurists of high moral standing", this has led to a situation that it is easier to become a judge of the national constitutional court then the judge of a lower court, since that position has more requirements and specific process of vetting. Also, political influence has a great part in the appointment of judges, so persons with very active political carriers have been chosen by the parliaments of entities, like the current judges Seada Palavrić and Mirsad Ćeman (former longtime members of SDA party) or Krstan Simić (member of SNSD party before his selection). Judge Krstan Simić was subsequently dismissed from the Court by the consensus of other judges, because of his controversial correspondence with his former party leader.
Read more about this topic: Constitutional Court Of Bosnia And Herzegovina
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