Bosnia and Herzegovina - July 2024

On 17 July, two new laws - the Election Law and the Civil Initiative Law - entered into force in Republika Srpska (RS), one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). These laws grant RS exclusive authority over conducting elections and organising referendums within the entity. The Election Law seeks to establish a Republic Election Commission, which would take over the responsibilities of BiH’s Central Electoral Commission for organizing elections within RS, including elections for the entity’s Parliament, President and Vice President, and local elections. However, on 24 July, the BiH Constitutional Court temporarily suspended the laws, with the Court’s final decision still pending. Representatives of the Peace Implementation Council’s Steering Board, created after the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, expressed concern in a joint statement that these laws could threaten the integrity of local elections scheduled for October. 

Sources: International IDEA, Slobodna Evropa, Faktor, Office of the High Representative, Balkan Insight, RFE/RL