Bosnia & Herzegovina
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- parliamentary republic
- CONSTITUTION
- December 14, 1995 (based on the Dayton agreements); amended several times, last in 2009
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on civil law; the Constitutional Court reviews legislative acts; has not submitted to the jurisdiction of the ICJ
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- Bicameral Parliamentary Assembly (Skupstina) composed of the House of Representatives (Predstavnicki Dom) and the House of Peoples (Dom Naroda)
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) (composed of 9 members); Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (composed of 44 national judges and 7 international judges organized into 3 sections: administrative, appellate, and criminal, which includes a Chamber for war crimes); the Federation has 10 cantonal courts plus some municipal courts; the Republika Srpska has a supreme court, 5 district courts, and a number of municipal courts
RELIGIONS
Muslim 50.7%, Orthodox 30.7%, Roman Catholic 15.2%, Atheist 0.8%, Agnostic 0.3%, Other 1.2%, Not declared/No response 1.1% (estimate 2013)
From the country
- JULY 1, 2003Bosnia & HerzegovinaDEATH PENALTY
Forensic experts exhumed 12 bodies from a mass grave...
Forensic experts exhumed 12 bodies from a mass grave believed to contain the remains of Bosnian Muslims summarily executed in the beginning of last decade's war
- APRIL 24, 2003Bosnia & HerzegovinaDEATH PENALTY
Bosnia and Herzegovina was a cosponsor of the resolution...
Bosnia and Herzegovina was a cosponsor of the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights, in Geneva
- JANUARY 1, 2003Bosnia & HerzegovinaDEATH PENALTY
The Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina...
The Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not provide for the death penalty but the Criminal Code does
- JANUARY 1, 2003Bosnia & HerzegovinaDEATH PENALTY
Bosnia and Herzegovina has signed but not yet ratified...
Bosnia and Herzegovina has signed but not yet ratified Protocol No 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms banning the death penalty in all circumstances
- MAY 3, 2002Bosnia & HerzegovinaDEATH PENALTY
Bosnia and Herzegovina signed Protocol 13 to the European...
Bosnia and Herzegovina signed Protocol 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which ensures the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances
- NOVEMBER 23, 2001Bosnia & HerzegovinaDEATH PENALTY
The International Tribunal for Crimes in the former...
The International Tribunal for Crimes in the former Yugoslavia indicted former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic for genocide
- AUGUST 2, 2001Bosnia & HerzegovinaDEATH PENALTY
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former...
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague found General Radislav Krstic guilty of participating in the genocide of Bosnian Muslims in the Srebrenica enclave, a haven that was under United Nations control until it came unde
- APRIL 25, 2001Bosnia & HerzegovinaDEATH PENALTY
Bosnia and Herzegovina was a cosponsor of the resolution...
Bosnia and Herzegovina was a cosponsor of the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 25, 2001
- MARCH 15, 2001Bosnia & HerzegovinaDEATH PENALTY
The United Nations received the relevant documents...
The United Nations received the relevant documents of ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, from Bosnia and Herzegovina
- JANUARY 23, 2001Bosnia & HerzegovinaDEATH PENALTY
The first local trial of six Bosnian Muslims charged...
The first local trial of six Bosnian Muslims charged with war crimes committed against Bosnian Croat prisoners in the Mostar region during the conflict of 1993-94, has begun in Mostar
- JANUARY 1, 2001Bosnia & HerzegovinaDEATH PENALTY
War crimes and genocide are capital crimes
War crimes and genocide are capital crimes
- SEPTEMBER 7, 2000Bosnia & HerzegovinaDEATH PENALTY
Bosnia signed the Second Optional Protocol to the International...
Bosnia signed the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights aiming at the abolition of the death penalty