Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Constitutional Court has ruled that budget funds used by the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska entity to pay foreign consulting firms to lobby for independence violate the country’s constitutional order.
The ruling concerns a consulting agreement between the Republika Srpska Representative Office in Vienna and Montreal-based Dickens & Madson Canada Inc., which identified “the independence of Republika Srpska” as one of its core political objectives.
The legal challenge was launched in April by state-level lawmaker Denis Zvizdić, who argued that using taxpayers’ money to lobby against Bosnia and Herzegovina’s sovereignty and territorial integrity was unconstitutional.
A 2008 court ruling allowed Republika Srpska to engage foreign firms for general economic promotion. However, the Constitutional Court has now determined that using public funds for campaigns explicitly advocating secession constitutes an attack on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s constitutional order.
“The Constitutional Court hereby prohibits all payments from the budget of Republika Srpska regarding the consulting services contract concluded with Dickens & Madson Canada Inc.,” the court stated. “Financing lobbying services for goals that run counter to the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina is strictly incompatible with the constitutional order.”
Zvizdić welcomed the decision, saying that Republika Srpska had used substantial public funds for campaigns directed against the state.
“Public money cannot be used to finance lobbying aimed against the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, its territorial integrity, sovereignty and its institutions,” Zvizdić stated.
“This binding decision establishes a clear legal standard: citizens’ money must serve development and investment, not the undermining of the state,” he added.
Under Bosnia and Herzegovina’s state-level legal framework, Bosnia’s entities do not have a constitutional right to unilaterally secede. Failure to comply with a binding order of the Constitutional Court can also carry serious legal consequences.
The Constitutional Court said the full text of the decision will be delivered to all parties and published on its official website within the month.
