Politics

The politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina takes place in a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The system of government established by the Dayton Accord is an example of consociationalism, as representation is by elites who represent the countries three major groups, with each having a guaranteed share of power. Bosnia and Herzegovina is divided into two Entities - the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska, as well as the district of Brcko. Each of the Entities has its own constitution.

Executive Branch

The Chair of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina rotates among three members (Bosniak, Serb, Croat), each elected as the Chair for an 8-month term within their 4-year term as a member. The three members of the Presidency are elected directly by the people (Federation votes for the Bosniak/Croat, Republika Srpska for the Serb). The Presidency is the head of state institution and it is mainly responsible for the foreign policy and proposing the budget.

The Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina is nominated by the Presidency and approved by the House of Representatives. The Chairman is then responsible for appointing a Foreign Minister, Minister of Foreign Trade, and others as appropriate.

The Council is responsible for carrying out various policies and decisions in the fields of diplomacy, economy, inter-Entity relations and other matters as agreed by the Entities.

Each of the Entities has its own Council of Ministers, which deal with internal matters not dealt with by the state Council.

Legislative Branch

The Parliamentary Assembly (or Parlamentarna skuptina) is the main legislative body in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It consists of two chambers:

• the House of Peoples (or Dom naroda)
• the National House of Representatives (or Predstavnicki dom/Zastupnicki dom)

The Parliamentary Assembly is responsible for:

• Enacting legislation as necessary to implement decisions of the Presidency or to carry out the responsibilities of the Assembly under the Constitution.
• Deciding upon the sources and amounts of revenues for the operations of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and international obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• Approving the budget for the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• Deciding and ratifying treaties and agreements.
• Other matters as are necessary to carry out its duties of as are assigned to it by mutual agreement of the Entities.

Bosnia and Herzegovina did not have a permanent election law until 2001, during which time a draft law specified four-year terms for the state and first-order administrative division entity legislatures. The final election law was passed and publicised on September 9, 2001.

House of Peoples

The House of Peoples includes 15 delegates who serve two-year terms. Two-thirds of them come from the Federation (5 Croats and 5 Bosniaks) and one-third from the RS (5 Serbs). Nine members of the House of Peoples constitutes a quorum, provided that at least three delegates from each group are present. Federation representatives are selected by the House of Peoples of the Federation, which has 58 seats (17 Bosniak, 17 Croat, 17 Serb, 7 others) and whose members are delegated by cantonal assemblies to serve 4-year terms. RS representatives are selected by the 28-member Republika Srpska Council of Peoples which was established in the Republika Srpska National Assembly; each constituent nation has eight delegates, "others" have four delegates.

House of Representatives

The House of Representatives comprises 42 Members, two-thirds elected to serve four-year terms from the Federation (14 Croats and 14 Bosniaks) and one-third elected from the RS (14 Serbs). Federation members come from the Federation House of Representatives with 98 seats whose members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. RS members come from the RS National Assembly, which has 83 seats and whose members are elected by popular vote to serve 4-year terms.

Judicial Branch

Constitutional Court

The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the supreme, final arbiter of legal matters. It is composed of nine members: four members are selected by the House of Representatives of the Federation, two by the Assembly of the RS, and three by the President of the European Court of Human Rights after consultation with the Presidency.

Terms of initial appointees are 5 years, unless they resign or are removed for cause by consensus of the other judges. Once appointed, judges are not eligible for reappointment. Judges subsequently appointed will serve until the age of 70, unless they resign or are removed for cause. Appointments made 5 years after the initial appointments may be governed by a different law of selection, to be determined by the Parliamentary Assembly.

Proceedings of the Court are public, and decisions will be published. Rules of court are adopted by a majority of the Court, and decisions are final and binding.

The Constitutional Court's original jurisdiction lies in deciding any constitutional dispute that arises between the Entities or between Bosnia and Herzegovina and an Entity or Entities. Such disputes may be referred only by a member of the Presidency, by the Chair of the Council of Ministers, by the Chair or Deputy Chair of either chamber of the Parliamentary Assembly, or by one-fourth of the legislature of either Entity.

The Court also has appellate jurisdiction within the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

State Court

The State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of three divisions - Administrative, Appellate and Criminal - having jurisdiction over cases related to state-level law and appellate jurisdiction over cases initiated in the entities.

A War Crimes Chamber was added in January 2005, and has currently adopted two cases transferred from the ICTY, as well as dozens of war crimes cases initiated in cantonal courts.

The State Court also deals with organised crime, economic crime and corruption cases.

Human Rights Chamber

The Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina (Dom za ljudska prava za Bosnu i Hercegovinu) has displayed activity between March 1996 and 31 December 2003. It was a judicial body established under Annex 6 to the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Dayton Peace Agreement).

Entities

The entities each have a Supreme Court. Each entity also has a number of lower courts. There are 10 cantonal courts in the Federation, plus a number of municipal courts. The Republika Srpska has five municipal courts.