The University of Sarajevo Open Lecture Event
“The Role of the Constitutional Court in Strengthening the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina “

On the occasion of 25th of November – National Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an open lecture on topic “The Role of the Constitutional Court in Strengthening the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina“ was held in the UNSA Conference Hall, on Thursday 20 November 2014. The speaker spoke Mrs.Valerija Galic, President of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
A welcome speech by UNSA Rector, Prof. Dr. Muharem Avdispahic, Dr. h. c. opened the event. Rector said in his speech that in the Wartime Platform for Action of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, issued on 2 July 1992 had been noted that the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina had a special interest in becoming a full member of the European Community. “Bosnia is one of those historical countries in Europe, a geopolitical entity with continuity from the Middle Ages to the present day, with a centuries long positive experience of multiconfessionalism. In the next May it will be the 570th anniversary of Pope Eugenio IV’s recognizing of Bosnian king”. He also added “When 63.2% of the total electorate of Bosnia and Herzegovina voted for independence, and on the day of international recognition of B&H the armed aggression against it started, appeared Carrington-Cutiliero peace plan for restructuring Bosnia and Herzegovina on the ethnic principle appeared”. Rector Avdispahic reminded that in this year the 40th anniversary of the Constitution of 1974 silently slipped away – “This Constitution was the basis of the work of the Badinter Arbitration Committee composed of the Presidents of the constitutional Courts of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Belgium, and established by the EEC Council of Ministers on 27 August 1991. The Arbitration Committee had no objections to the revised constitution of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The for stopping the aggression and genocide by the 1995 peace agreement initialed in Dayton was the imposition of a new constitution in the form of Annex IV of the Dayton Peace Agreement.”

During her presentation on topic “The Role of the Constitutional Court in Strengthening the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina“, President of the Constitutional Court, Mrs.Valerija Galic pointed out some essential elements of the role of the Constitutional Court and recalled the decision of the Constitutional Court, especially important in the development of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a democratic state.

Having reminded the present ones on the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina was declared at the first session of ZAVNOBiH as indivisible state in which all nations have the same rights, Ms Galic stated: “Although the fundamental values were then established, often through social processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina shaken and opposed, the particularly important role in the promotion of these values today is the one of the Constitutional Court.  This fact was confirmed by a number of decisions of the Constitutional Court.”

“In this way it is possible to single out several important, one could day freely the historic decisions, by which the Constitutional Court gave a dynamic and evolutionary interpretation of the Constitution, using the fact that the Constitution contains certain antinomy, as well as the fact that the overwhelming number of constitutional norms is enacted insufficiently. Those norms are used for the progressive, so to say activist approach, instead of being interpreted as an obstacle to further the constitutional and legal development. The first one is the so called The Decision on the Constitutionality of Nations” said Mrs. Galic.
“Such interpretation of the Constitution and functioning of the Constitutional Court within its jurisdiction enables the efficient functioning of the necessary government bodies that are not explicitly mentioned in the text of the Constitution, but whose creation and action is not contrary to the provisions and spirit of the Constitution, since the Constitution allows the possibility of establishing such institutions in order to carry out the jurisdiction of Bosnia and Herzegovina and resolve significant systemic issues“ said Mrs. Galic.

President of the Constitutional Court Mrs.Valerija Galic ended her presentation saying: "The execution of the Constitutional Court’s decisions and carrying out the decisions of other courts is not only legal, but also a socio-political issue. The authority and role of the court depends primarily on the willingness, not only of the relevant state bodies, but also of the entire community to accept the Court's decision. This issue determines the relation between the court and the community and moral and political in general both of the constitutionality and legality and judicial decisions.

Mrs. Valerija Galic’s Biography:
Mrs. Valerija Galic graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Sarajevo in 1981. On 1 July 1981, she was employed as a law clerk with the Secretariat for Legislation of the then Executive Council of the Assembly of the SRBiH. Thereupon, she was referred to the Municipal Court I for judicial practice. After having passed bar exam on 13 October 1982, she was employed as a law assistant, then advisor and assistant secretary in charge of legislation of the Executive Council of the Government of the R/FBiH until 1996 when she was appointed as the Secretary of the Office for Legislation of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In May of 1997, she participated in the USAID Program: Taxation in Federal System - Regulations Drafting - the USA Example, implemented in the USA.
At the invitation of the Council of Europe in June 1999, in her capacity as representative of BiH from FBiH and member of the Commission for Harmonization of Legal System with the European legislation, she was in an official study to Strasbourg in order to get acquainted with the work of the bodies of the Council of Europe.
She was a member of a number of working commissions for drafting and adopting various laws. She is also a co-author and reviewer of several professional publications. She was a member of the Commission for Professional Qualifications Exam for Employees of the Administration of the Federation of BiH and examiner in charge of the subjects Constitutional System and Administration in the Federation of BiH. On 30 July 2002, she was appointed Judge of the Constitutional Court. She took up office in February 2003 upon the constituting session of the new composition of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since June 2006, she has been serving as the Vice-President of the Constitutional Court of the Bosnia and Herzegovina.