{"id":12331,"date":"2024-12-09T12:10:25","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T11:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustavbih.ba\/article-vi-constitutional-court-of-bosnia-and-herzegovina\/e-brcko-district-constitution-and-law\/international-position-of-the-brcko-district\/legal-status-of-the-district\/"},"modified":"2024-12-09T18:53:06","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T17:53:06","slug":"legal-status-of-the-district","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ustavbih.ba\/en\/article-vi-constitutional-court-of-bosnia-and-herzegovina\/e-brcko-district-constitution-and-law\/international-position-of-the-brcko-district\/legal-status-of-the-district\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Status of the District"},"content":{"rendered":"

In order to understand the legal status of the District it is necessary to view Bosnia and Herzegovina in the context of international law. It has already been clear that it is difficult to analyse Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a State and legal subject, within the context of the theory of public law and public international law. In science, there has been no clearly differentiated opinion about this issue.3585 <\/sup><\/span>It is questionable whether Bosnia and Herzegovina is a federal state or a confederation, or whether Bosnia and Herzegovina may be deemed to be a sovereign country or a protectorate of the international community. According to one opinion, Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a sovereign State but a confederation consisting of two sovereign States, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska.3586 <\/sup><\/span>The said opinion is contrasted by the fact that line 6 of the Preamble of the BiH Constitution and Article III.2(a) of the BiH Constitution address sovereignty. In any event, the State as a whole is not called a \u201cfederal state\u201d, but a \u201cstate\u201d. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska are not called \u201cstates\u201d or \u201ccountries\u201d, as is the common situation in federal law, but they are defined as \u201cSub-State-Entities\u201d.3587 <\/sup><\/span>Therefore, according to another opinion, Bosnia and Herzegovina is, in any case, a quasi or de facto federal state.3588 <\/sup><\/span>A relatively clear division of responsibilities between the State and the Entities, presuming the existence of the responsibilities of the Entities,3589 <\/sup><\/span>are typical elements of a federal system of government.<\/p>\n

Most academics see Bosnia and Herzegovina as a sovereign State and not as a protectorate,3590 <\/sup><\/span>not only because of the reference made in the BiH Constitution, that is Annex 4 to the Dayton Peace Agreement, but because of the facts that the State is a full member of the United Nations and that it joined the Council of Europe in 2002.3591 <\/sup><\/span>In addition, Article III of the BiH Constitution lists a number of responsibilities of the State (foreign policy, monetary policy, migration policy, etc.), which, in essence, are the responsibilities of any State. Nevertheless, an opinion is often expressed3592 <\/sup><\/span>that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a protectorate. However, unlike typical protectorates, Bosnia and Herzegovina is not under UN auspices, but rather it is under the auspices of the international community or international organisations, established as the Peace Implementation Council based on the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement. Finally, Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a typical protectorate, which implicitly includes internal autonomy and foreign dependence.<\/p>\n

In any case, the State is fairly limited operation-wise in the area of its internal and foreign policy. As a result, Bosnia and Herzegovina may be denoted as a semi-protectorate or \u2013 by a legal passe-partout \u2013 as a \u201csui generis State\u201d.3593<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

Similar relationships are applicable to the Br\u010dko District. Pursuant to Paragraph 9 of the Final Award,3594 <\/sup><\/span>Bosnia and Herzegovina has sole authority over the Br\u010dko District. As a self-governing administrative unit, which is part of both the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska, the Br\u010dko District is a territory independent from both Entities, as all powers were delegated to the District itself (paragraph 10 of the Final Award). Pursuant to paragraph 11 of the Final Award, Br\u010dko is held in \u201ccondominium\u201d by both Entities. Thus, the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the territory of the Republika Srpska encompass the District as a whole.3595 <\/sup><\/span>In this way, the territory is divided so that it is equivalent to the parts held by each Entity: 51% is under the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 49% under the Republika Srpska. Indeed, the notion \u201ccondominium\u201d \u2013 with a particular legal structure \u2013 is misleading,3596 <\/sup><\/span>as both Entities are given no possibility to have any influence on the District. The authority holders are solely the Supervisor and the District Government. The District is under the sole sovereignty of the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Consequently, the District, besides the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska, is de facto an equal third entity, which is limited, as it is not afforded the right to vote at the State central level. Therefore, \u201ca sui generis status\u201d is the only possible solution left.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In order to understand the legal status of the District it is necessary to view Bosnia and Herzegovina in the context of international law. It has already been clear that it is difficult to analyse Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a State and legal subject, within the context of the theory of public law and public … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":12327,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12331","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nLegal Status of the District - Commentary on BiH Constitution<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ustavbih.ba\/en\/article-vi-constitutional-court-of-bosnia-and-herzegovina\/e-brcko-district-constitution-and-law\/international-position-of-the-brcko-district\/legal-status-of-the-district\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Legal Status of the District - Commentary on BiH Constitution\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In order to understand the legal status of the District it is necessary to view Bosnia and Herzegovina in the context of international law. 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