General provisions - Commentary on BiH Constitution

The general provisions are contained in Chapter III, Section A, and – as just mentioned – in the transitional provisions of Chapters VI and VII. Article 20 contains the structural principle of division of powers. Article 21 defines that public employment with the District shall be based on professional merit and open competition and that it shall reflect the composition of the population, i.e., the composition of ethnic groups in the District. The same principle – without a special quota or a special distribution formula but rather as a compliance with an obligation – applies to the whole government of the District (compare with Article 48) and, as per the Election Law, it applies to the Assembly as well, which means it applies to each body or organ in the whole territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Accordingly, democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina is based on ethnic grounds. Pursuant to Article 22 of the Statute, all the councillors of the District Assembly, public officials, prosecutors and judges must submit to the Department of Public Records of the District Government an annual financial disclosure report on their total current income, sources, assets, and liabilities in accordance with the law. The public authority was established promptly after the Final Award had been issued. In 1999, the Supervisor appointed an interim town administration and Assembly (the Council). The Councillors were elected for the first time in 2004. An independent Judicial Commission (Article 64) also assumed its responsibilities.

The transitional provisions of the Statute contain some important provisions. Thus, pursuant to Article 70 of the Statute, the Entities’ laws remain in force in the Brčko District until made ineffective by a legal act of the Brčko District. All municipal administrations existing within the territory of the District ceased to exist on 9 March 2000 when this Statute entered into force (Article 71, paragraph 1). Pursuant to Article 71, paragraph 2 of the Statute, the Brčko District is the legal successor to the Republika Srpska Brčko Municipality as well as to the administrative arrangements of Brka and Ravne-Brčko. All contracts and agreements entered into by the municipal governments shall be examined and then either cancelled or re-concluded (Article 71, paragraph 3). All pending proceedings shall be completed in accordance with the law of Brčko District (Article 72).