In May 2018, the Constitutional Court of the Federation of BiH determined that several provisions of the constitutions of Posavina, Herzegovina-Neretva, and West Herzegovina cantons violate the Constitution of the Federation of BiH as they do not recognize the constituent status of the Serb people, the Serb and Bosnian languages as the official languages and the Cyrillic script as one of the two official scripts. The Court, therefore, ordered the three cantonal assemblies to amend their constitutions within 6 months. None of the assemblies has so far done this.
“Ensuring that all constituent peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina enjoy the same rights in every part of the country is a fundamental pillar of Dayton. Upholding the rights of constituent peoples but also of all citizens is the only way to ensure that Bosnia and Herzegovina can develop as a secure and sovereign democracy that respects European values,” said High Representative.
The High Representative calls on the cantonal assemblies to implement the Constitutional Court’s ruling without further delay and reminds that until the respective cantonal constitutions are amended relevant provisions of the Constitution of the Federation of BiH have supremacy and directly apply.
