The International Legal Intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina through the Powers of the High Representative as a Post-Conflict Mechanism of Power Sharing

On the 12th and 13th of September 2024, the University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Law, in collaboration with the CEE Forum, Social Sciences 4 Democracy and Centar za pravne kulture, Sarajevo, hosted the 16th CEE Forum of Young Legal, Political and Social Theorists on the theme Diversities of Legal Landscapes in Central and Eastern Europe.[1]

As part of the research project Constitutions for peace: the role of constitutional changes in promoting coexistence and social reconstruction in societies in transition, I presented the paper The International Legal Intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina through the Powers of the High Representative as a Post-Conflict Mechanism of Power Sharing.

The High Representative, given a mandate from the parties to the Dayton Peace Accords and the international community, is a guardian of the Dayton Peace Accords and responsible for its implementation, but a foreign and a sui generis mechanism in a sovereign state. Such international legal intervention was part of the post-conflict legal system and a mechanism to rebuild the state institutions, ensure stability, transitional justice, and enforce the legal system as set by the Dayton Peace Accords.

The paper explored the powers and the decisions of the High Representative, which changed the electoral legislation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and in connection with the jurisdiction of the state institutions, i.e. the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the three branches of power (legislative, executive and judicial). Secondly, it also focused on some of the key decisions of the High Representative regarding removals from office and the obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia as part of the transitional justice process.

This post-conflict power-sharing mechanism is still part of Bosnia and Herzegovina's state governance and holds the strongest power in the legal system of Bosnia and Herzegovina. With that said, the pending obligation of all the stakeholders to ensure the necessary changes to the Bosnia and Herzegovina Constitution and its legal system remains not only in connection to the international treaties and organisations to which Bosnia and Herzegovina is a party and a member but also in the light of the open negotiation process for the accession to the European Union.

[1] https://unsa.ba/novosti/program-16th-cee-forum-young-legal-political-and-social-theorists.