Bosnia's Constitutional Court abolished the provision of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity's Constitution on the death penalty, on Friday.

Considering the request of Bosniak Delegates in the Serb-dominated RS Council of Peoples to review Article 11, paragraph 2, of the RS Constitution, providing for the death penalty in certain criminal offences, the Constitutional Court found that the disputed provision was not in accordance with the State Constitution.

The Court abolished the provision and found that it would cease to be valid the day after the decision was published in Bosnia's Official Gazette.

The Court's statement said that after the Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights entered into force, the death penalty was abolished in all circumstances, and that the Protocol constitutes a legally binding act for all levels of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including its entities – the RS and the Bosniak-Croat shared Federation (FBiH).