Article V.5(b)

Article V.5(b) creates the Standing Committee on Military Matters. Prior to the defence reform process in 2003, the International Community had invested a significant amount of resources into developing the capacities of the Standing Committee on Military Matters as the only State-level body with Constitutional responsibilities in the area of defence. However, the Constitutional Court confirmed that the Standing Committee on Military Matters was a “coordinating body” and not an institution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.²⁸⁶⁷ That fact severely limited its potential to assume some of the functions of a ministry of defence.

The role of the Standing Committee on Military Matters was significantly revised and degraded by the defence reform process that began in 2003. The creation of a new Ministry of Defence at the State level made the constitutionally defined role of the Standing Committee on Military Matters irrelevant. Its authority is now defined by the Law on Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which limits the Standing Committee on Military Matters to advising the Presidency on defence and security policy and the appointment of commanders.²⁸⁶⁸ But since Article V.5(b) only requires the participation of the members of the Presidency in the Standing Committee on Military Matters and leaves it to the discretion of the Presidency to appoint additional members, even this advisory role could effectively be eliminated if no Entity representatives were appointed to the Standing Committee on Military Matters by the Presidency.

The law does acknowledge the constitutional status of the Standing Committee on Military Matters by recognizing that the Presidency has the constitutional authority to add or subtract from the legislatively defined responsibilities.²⁸⁶⁹ And the Law on Defence also does not attempt to define the membership of the Standing Committee on Military Matters, which is the constitutional prerogative of the Presidency.