Structures of a multiethnic pluralist society

If the rights of representation and participation in the government are, in principle, restricted to the State level, then the constitutional principles of prohibition of discrimination against groups and the return of refugees and displaced persons, which imply numerous languages and religions, as well as cultural pluralism in social life, particularly in the area of upbringing and tradition, deserves special attention and guarantees.

Therefore, this is related to the area of social life. Accordingly, linguistic and religious pluralism are not necessary only in the State institutions but also in the Entities and in public life, such as, for instance, universities.¹³⁸ The Framework Law on the Public Broadcasting System provides for equal rights of all constituent peoples, and therefore it does not violate “the vital interest” of the Croat people.¹³⁹ However, unconstitutional discrimination shall exist if the names of the cities/towns relate to only one constituent people, as that violates the integration of the constituent peoples and a possibility for return of members of other constituent peoples.¹⁴⁰ Similarly, unconstitutional discrimination shall exist if the coat of arms, anthem and symbols of one administrative-territorial unit do not include all three constituent peoples.¹⁴¹ The vital interest of the Bosniak people shall be threatened if the legal solution for the exercise of the property right of refugees and displaced persons is made difficult in a disproportional manner;¹⁴² conversely, the vital interest of the Bosniaks shall not be threatened by the agreement of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia on special rights of the former members of the Croatian Defence Council.¹⁴³

The third line of the Preamble of the Constitution of BiH, therefore, served, on one hand, to constitute and protect the institutions and procedures of a multicultural and multiethnic state, and, on the other hand, to consolidate the respective structures by preserving the cultural pluralism of the society that was applicable up until that point. However, one could ask oneself the question as to how much it corresponds to European standards.