The (legal) nature of the acts of the High representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina – (administrative-)legal and/or political

Abstract

The institution of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina is established by Annex X of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This Annex sets out in detail the issue of status, competencies and objectives, which introduced the High Representative into the constitutional system of Bosnia and Herzegovina. From the primary function conceived by the Dayton Peace Agreement as coordinating, as well as the powers that created the “soft power” of the institution, these powers were over time realized and often accepted as decisive or even commanding in the legal life of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The overriding function of the civilian implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement was lost in subsequent, “off-Dayton” extensions of the High Representative’s remit. The authors will present the basic institutional physiognomy of the High Representative, and seek to provide an overview of the (legal) nature of the High Representative’s man- date, and in particular the ways in which those powers have been extended and the consequences that this extension caused. During almost three decades of existence in the constitutional system of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the institution of the High Representative has made significant changes to the constitutional and legal regime, which often took on a political dimension. In this regard, the authors will try, within the limits of legal science, to present an overview of the acts of the High Representative, which this institution is authorized to pass according to Dayton, but also all other acts that it passed in the observed period. To date, not only in legal theory, but also in practice, the question of the (legal) nature of the acts of the High Representative, has been rightly raised and thus the possible control of these acts, first of all the constitutional one. Therefore, at this current moment, the authors will try to provide arguments for answering this question, without pretending to provide a final answer at the same time.