D. Jurisdiction (Article VI.3)
3. Jurisdiction
The Constitutional Court shall uphold this Constitution.
(a) The Constitutional Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to decide any dispute that arises under this Constitution between the Entities or between Bosnia and Herzegovina and an Entity or Entities, or between institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including but not limited to:
– Whether an Entity’s decision to establish a special parallel relationship with a neighbouring state is consistent with this Constitution, including provisions concerning the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
– Whether any provision of an Entity’s constitution or law is consistent with this Constitution. Disputes may be referred only by a member of the Presidency, by the Chair of the Council of Ministers, by the Chair or a Deputy Chair of either chamber of the Parliamentary Assembly, by one-fourth of the members of either chamber of the Parliamentary Assembly, or by one-fourth of either chamber of a legislature of an Entity.
(b) The Constitutional Court shall also have appellate jurisdiction over issues under this Constitution arising out of a judgment of any other court in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(c) The Constitutional Court shall have jurisdiction over issues referred by any court in Bosnia and Herzegovina concerning whether a law, on whose validity its decision depends, is compatible with this Constitution, with the European Convention for Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its Protocols, or with the laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina; or concerning the existence of or the scope of a general rule of public international law pertinent to the court’s decision.
The Constitutional Court is entrusted with classical constitutional jurisdiction such as abstract and concrete control (review) of constitutionality, resolution of federal disputes and disputes between State authorities, and appellate jurisdiction (under the BiH Constitution and ECHR). Viewed precisely, certain provisions relating to jurisdiction are formulated in a broad and imprecise manner, thus leaving certain room for interpretation. First of all, the clause of Article VI.3(a) of the BiH Constitution “including but not limited to”, is an unusual one and confers to the Constitutional Court the jurisdiction to decide any dispute that arises under the Constitution. These are, for example, (a) disputes between the State and an Entity with regard to the constitutionality of the Entity’s agreement to establish a special parallel relationship with a neighbouring state and (b) review of the consistency of certain provisions of an Entity’s Constitution or laws with the BiH Constitution. Besides these, the Constitutional Court resolves blockades of the Parliamentary Assembly, which occur if the majority of delegates from one constituent people in the House of Peoples declares a decision taken by the House of Representatives destructive of a vital interest of that constituent people, whereas the majority of delegates from another constituent people oppose it (Article IV.3(e)), while the so-called Joint Commission fails to reach a compromise (Article IV.3(f) of the BiH Constitution).