Država Bosna i Hercegovina i međunarodna zajednica
THE STATE OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

Summary/Abstract: Having signed the General Framework Agreement for peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Dayton Peace Agreement), the International community has become an integral part of the constitutional and political system of the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Moreover, Annex 10 of the Dayton Peace Agreement introduced the institution of the High Representative of the International community (OHR) in function of the final interpreter of Dayton Peace Agreement in the civilian implementation of the Peace Agreement. The institution of the High Representative in the early years of its mandate, besides the passing laws, has done civil servants dismissal, including the President of the Entity or member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina in cases where they did not cooperate regarding the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, or when it was a lack of cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Seven years after the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement (2002), Bosnia and Herzegovina became a member of the Council of Europe, and two years later (2004), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe approached the European Commission for Democracy through Law, known as the “Venice Commission” with the request to examine, whether the powers of the High Representative are compatible with Council of Europe’s standards. Besides, it is naturally to examine at first, the past records of the High Representative in B&H, secondly, whether the High Representative has made the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina capable to act independently, and thirdly, whether the B&H even able to meet the imposed international obligations without affecting the institution of the High Representative and the international community in general. Considering the still present mechanisms of blockade, such as a vital national interest, entity veto as well as ethnic domination but not civil representation, it is necessary to re-examine the role of the High Representative and other actors of the International community in the process of constitutional reform, as the only possible way out of the difficult political, economic and other situation, in which the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been found.

• Details
• Contents