WORKING HOURS OF CATERING, CRAFT-ENTREPRENEURIAL AND SHOPPING FACILITIES

Abstract

The Constitution of the Republic of Srpska establishes that the municipality, through its organs, in accordance with the law, takes care of meeting the needs of citizens in culture, education, health and social protection, physical culture, information, crafts, tourism and hospitality, environmental protection and other areas and to carry out laws, other regulations and general acts of the Republic, the execution of which is entrusted to the municipality, ensures the execution of regulations and general acts of the municipality (Article 102, Paragraph 1, Items 5 and 6) and that the regulations and other general acts must be in accordance with the law (Article 108, paragraph 2). On the basis of the mentioned constitutional and legal provisions, the municipal assembly is authorized to regulate, among other things, the working hours of catering, craft-entrepreneurial and commercial facilities in its territory. Bearing in mind that the contested Article 23, paragraph 1 of the Decision stipulates that catering establishments do not have to, and therefore can work even on republican holidays, the Court assessed that such regulation is not in accordance with the provisions of Article 5, paragraphs 1 and 3 of the Law about holidays. As the aforementioned legal provisions explicitly prohibit work on public holidays, among other things, to other organizations and persons who professionally perform service and production activities, and the stipulated obligation of the head of the municipality/mayor to, in order to meet the necessary needs of the citizens, determine which companies, institutions and other organizations from the area of ​​the local self-government unit are obliged to work on the days of the Republic's holidays, according to the Court's opinion, by prescribing this, the author of the act went beyond the scope of his powers established by this law.