D. Procedures (Article IV.3)

3. Procedures

a. Each chamber shall be convened in Sarajevo not more than 30 days after its selection or election.

b. Each chamber shall by majority vote adopt its internal rules and select from its members one Serb, one Bosniac, and one Croat to serve as its Chair and Deputy Chairs, with the position of Chair rotating among the three persons selected.

c. All legislation shall require the approval of both chambers.

d. All decisions in both chambers shall be by majority of those present and voting. The Delegates and Members shall make their best efforts to see that the majority includes at least one-third of the votes of Delegates or Members from the territory of each Entity. If a majority vote does not include one-third of the votes of Delegates or Members from the territory of each Entity, the Chair and Deputy Chairs shall meet as a commission and attempt to obtain approval within three days of the vote. If those efforts fail, decisions shall be taken by a majority of those present and voting, provided that the dissenting votes do not include two-thirds or more of the Delegates or Members elected from either Entity.

e. A proposed decision of the Parliamentary Assembly may be declared to be destructive of a vital interest of the Bosniac, Croat, or Serb people by a majority of, as appropriate, the Bosniac, Croat, or Serb Delegates selected in accordance with paragraph l(a) above. Such a proposed decision shall require for approval in the House of Peoples a majority of the Bosniac, of the Croat, and of the Serb Delegates present and voting.

f. When a majority of the Bosniac, of the Croat, or of the Serb Delegates objects to the invocation of paragraph (e), the Chair of the House of Peoples shall immediately convene a Joint Commission comprising three Delegates, one each selected by the Bosniac, by the Croat, and by the Serb Delegates, to resolve the issue. If the Commission fails to do so within five days, the matter will be referred to the BiH Constitutional Court, which shall in an expedited process review it for procedural regularity.

g. The House of Peoples may be dissolved by the Presidency or by the House itself, provided that the House’s decision to dissolve is approved by a majority that includes the majority of Delegates from at least two of the Bosniac, Croat, or Serb peoples. The House of Peoples elected in the first elections after the entry into force of this Constitution may not, however, be dissolved.

h. Decisions of the Parliamentary Assembly shall not take effect before publication.

i. Both chambers shall publish a complete record of their deliberations and shall, save in exceptional circumstances in accordance with their rules, deliberate publicly.

j. Delegates and Members shall not be held criminally or civilly liable for any acts carried out within the scope of their duties in the Parliamentary Assembly.

The most complicated and controversial elements in Article IV relate to voting procedures and more specifically the mechanisms that can be used to block legislation.

Paragraph IV.3(d) first declares that all decisions in both chambers must be made by a majority of those present and voting. The language of the paragraph then restricts the simple majority requirement by defining an additional entity voting requirement that applies to voting in both chambers. The simple majority requirement for adoption of decisions is then further restricted by the vital interest mechanism available in the House of Peoples and discussed below.²⁷⁴¹