E. Article V.5: Standing Committee on Military Matters

a. Each member of the Presidency shall, by virtue of the office, have civilian command authority over armed forces. Neither Entity shall threaten or use force against the other Entity, and under no circumstances shall any armed forces of either Entity enter into or stay within the territory of the other Entity without the consent of the government of the latter and of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. All armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina shall operate consistently with the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

b. The members of the Presidency shall select a Standing Committee on Military Matters to coordinate the activities of armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Members of the Presidency shall be members of the Standing Committee.

Article V.5 is a highly unusual provision that attempts to create a minimal level of State command and control over the armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina while also addressing the reality of an immediate post-war environment where two separate armies – recruited, trained, equipped and commanded at the Entity level – had recently been engaged in hostilities. The result is a confusing, unworkable, and internally inconsistent provision of the Constitution. Following the unification and reorganisation of the Entity armed forces into the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2005, the provisions of Article V.5 have little remaining legal significance.

Article V.5 consists of two paragraphs. The first paragraph attempts to define State level civilian command authority over armed forces “in”²⁸⁵² Bosnia and Herzegovina. The second paragraph of Article V.5 creates a body called the Standing Committee on Military Matters, under the control of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with responsibility for coordinating the activities of armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Article V.5 is the only section of the Constitution that mentions the subject of military defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Military defence is not mentioned in the division of competencies between the State and Entities found in Article III. Because defence competencies were not explicitly granted to the State or Entities and because the language of Article V.5 is confusing and inconsistent, different political leaders in the two Entities have interpreted Article V.5 differently.