The legal system of Bosnia and Herzegovina
A civil-law system with a highly complex constitutional order created by the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, dividing power between the state, two entities and the Brčko District. An EU candidate since 2022.
Legal tradition
Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to the civil law tradition. A civil-law system with a highly complex constitutional order created by the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, dividing power between the state, two entities and the Brčko District. An EU candidate since 2022.
How power is divided
A three-member Presidency and Council of Ministers at state level share power with two autonomous entities and the Brčko District, each with their own legislatures and courts, under a Constitutional Court.
Where law comes from
- Constitution
- Dayton Annex 4, plus entity constitutions.
- European Convention on Human Rights
- Directly applicable and above other law.
- State and entity laws
- Legislation at state, entity and cantonal levels.
- Codes
- Obligations, criminal and procedural codes at entity level.
The legal profession
Advokati/odvjetnici belong to entity bar associations; notaries handle deeds and company acts under entity notary laws.
Law by topic in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Tax LawState-level indirect taxes with entity-level income taxesIndirect taxation is unified at state level: a single VAT and customs regime administered by the Indirect Taxation Authority. Direct taxes on income and profits, by contrast, are set and collected by each entity.
- Immigration & NationalityState-level immigration law with entity-level employment rulesImmigration is one of the clear state competences, governed by the Aliens Act and administered by the Service for Foreigners' Affairs. Work permits, however, are issued under entity employment legislation.
- Property & LandEntity property law, land registers and post-war restitutionProperty law and land registration are entity competences, with cadastres and land books maintained locally. Post-conflict restitution and the reconstruction of destroyed records remain live practical issues.
- Family LawSeparate entity family acts with similar substanceFamily law is an entity competence, so the Federation of BiH, Republika Srpska and Brčko District each have their own Family Act. Their substance is broadly similar, covering marriage, divorce, parental care and maintenance.
- Business & CorporateEntity-level company law with separate registers in each entityThere is no single state company law: the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska each have their own Companies Act and court or agency register. The d.o.o. is the standard vehicle in both, with differing capital requirements.
- Employment & LabourEntity labour acts with separate minimum wagesEmployment law is set at entity level, so the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska have separate Labour Acts, collective agreements and minimum wages. Both require a statutory ground and procedure for dismissal.
- Constitutional LawThe Dayton constitution, two entities and a court with international judgesThe Constitution is Annex 4 of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement. It creates a state with limited competences alongside two autonomous entities and the Brčko District, with a Constitutional Court that includes three judges appointed by the European Court of Human Rights.
- Human RightsThe ECHR with direct effect and priority over all other lawThe Constitution gives the European Convention on Human Rights direct application and priority over all other law. The Constitutional Court hears appeals alleging violations, and its case law is the main domestic human-rights jurisprudence.
- Criminal LawFour parallel criminal codes with a state court for the gravest casesCriminal law exists at state, entity and Brčko District level, giving four criminal codes and four procedure codes. The Court of BiH and the Prosecutor's Office of BiH handle war crimes, organised crime, terrorism and corruption.
- Civil ProcedureEntity civil procedure acts with parallel enforcement regimesCivil procedure is an entity competence, with near-identical Civil Procedure Acts in the Federation and Republika Srpska. Enforcement follows separate entity enforcement acts, and cross-entity execution requires care.
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