Dear President

Dear President,

Judges and Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a great honor for me to be here as the President of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and formally sign the Memorandum of Understanding with the Constitutional Court of Republic of Turkey which we consider to be our true friend.

We are all aware that, nowadays, it is quite impossible to imagine a stable democratic system with an absolute rule of law without constitutional judiciary to uphold it. Indeed, the Constitutional Court is the one watching over the Constitution and constitutional values both in bad as in good times.

The Constitutional Court primarily guarantees that the constitutional values, starting from independence and sovereignty of the country, through democratic organization of the authority to the constitutional rights and freedoms will be respected on the entire territory of a country.

If constitutional values are in conflict then the constitutional judiciary must strive to find a balance and establish legal harmony. The constitutional judiciary guarantees that every individual feels like a human being - free and equal with all diversities among people. For that reason, the constitutional judiciary must challenge the “majority” if necessary, in order to protect constitutional values of the “minorities“.

Finally, the constitutional judiciary strives to preserve the national constitutional values on the road to become equal partner with other European and world countries.

Aware of all these facts, we can rightly claim that the burden of responsibility of the constitutional court is enormous. Still, having in mind the imperative of its independence and impartiality, the Constitutional Court must bear this responsibility on its own.

Yet, this is easier to do knowing that you have friends with similar problems in other countries, who will lend a helping hand when needed the most. Indeed, who better to understand the difficulties constitutional judges are faced with than their colleagues from other constitutional courts!

This Memorandum of Understanding certainly confirms the support and mutual cooperation through which we shall exchange experiences, achievements and knowledge but also seek and find solutions for our present and future problems, together.

Finally, I have to add that this Memorandum carries a broader significance. It serves, in fact, as yet another confirmation of institutional cooperation between two friendly countries.

It is the sign that we want to work together and this work, especially if it offers real, positive and affirmative results, gives us an opportunity to get to know each other better and create common values that will bring us closer together even more.

I thank you for your attention, your hospitality and friendship!