REACTION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ZENICA TO THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTATIONS TO THE LAW ON HIGHER EDUCATION OF THE ZDK UNDER THE URGENT PROCEDURE

Amendments to the Law on Higher Education of the Canton of Diocese

Namely, the envisaged amendments to the Law are completely contrary to the Framework Law on Higher Education of BiH as well as the judgments of the Constitutional Court (U – 22/18, U- 10/21 and U- 9/22) which undoubtedly insist on respecting the autonomy of the University and academic freedoms. Without going into the content that is known to the lawmakers, we conclude that such legal provisions consciously violate the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH and that when adopting it, legal consequences and criminal liability should be taken into account. The proponent of the Law is not seeking systemic solutions, but individual ones in order to satisfy the demands of individuals. It goes so far that the government, through legal amendments, gives itself the right to appoint and dismiss the rector and to decide who should receive academic titles. Thus, the law contains provisions stipulating that the Board of Directors, consisting of 4 members representing the Government and 3 representing the University, can dismiss the Rector, who is elected by the Senate, the Board of Directors decides on the appointment to academic titles, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine can be a person who is employed at the University for 20 %, a different composition of the Scientific and Teaching Council (NNV) is determined from the existing one in such a way that those who wrote the Law are given complete control over the NNV, etc.

The Constitutional Court of BiH has, among other things, emphasized in its decisions that the rector and vice-rector of a public university are elected by the Senate and that even the obligation to give consent from the public authorities to the appointment of the rector or vice-rector represents interference in the institutional autonomy of the university, which is contrary to the provisions of Article 18 of the Framework Law as well as the positions of the Constitutional Court (U-22/18 and U-10//21). It also stipulates the obligation that cantonal laws in the field of higher education must be harmonized with the Framework Law and that anything to the contrary constitutes a violation of the provisions of Article 1/2 of the Constitution of BiH, which prescribes the rule of law, which, among other things, requires respect for the hierarchy of legal acts and their mutual compliance.

The University of Zenica, as the only institution to which this Law applies, was not consulted, and the Senate's initiative to include persons appointed by the Senate in the procedure for adopting amendments to the law was ignored. According to unofficial information, through private connections, teachers and associates whose activities can be characterized more as party than as academic were involved in the drafting of legal solutions.

There has always been a desire of the government to have influence on the University, but this time it has been rationally and acceptably rejected and legal violence is being used to introduce a political dictatorship at the University. If this is done and if this kind of legislation is accepted, then the legislator is consciously giving up higher education and creating a cadre of politically suitable people instead of professionals who should make decisions that affect us all.

Higher education in the EU legal system, which we strive for, implies the autonomy of the University and free operation without political influence, and the ZDC Assembly is now on the test and will show whether it will respect higher legal acts of BiH as well as EU regulations and guidelines or will form a unitary system in which politics shapes everything, including higher education.

                                                                                   MANAGEMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY IN ZENICA