The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina today, in a plenary session, annulled decisions by the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Government regarding the repurposing of state land in the Vares area, and by the Republika Srpska authorities concerning the sale of real estate on Jahorina via auction.

According to the announcement, the Constitutional Court determined that both decisions were contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and declared them null and void effective upon publication in the respective entity official gazettes. Previously, at the May 31 session, the Constitutional Court had imposed temporary measures suspending these decisions.

In the case of the FBiH Government's decision, the Constitutional Court ordered the FBiH Government and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management, and Forestry to take appropriate steps to annul all decisions and activities based on the contested decision. This ruling followed a request submitted by Kemal Ademovic, who was the Chairman of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time.

Regarding the Republika Srpska authorities’ decision, the Constitutional Court ordered the RS Government and the RS Ministry of Trade and Tourism to take appropriate steps to annul all decisions and activities based on the contested decision.

“The Constitutional Court emphasized that the RS Government was dealing with state property that is under a disposal ban and is under the exclusive jurisdiction of BiH institutions,” stated the Constitutional Court of BiH. This decision followed a request submitted by 13 members of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Court's decisions will be provided to the applicants within a month and published on the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina's website as soon as possible.

A summary of the decisions was also released.

“In both decisions, the Constitutional Court concluded that the land in question is forest land representing state property under a disposal ban, as determined in previous decisions on the same issue. Therefore, it was concluded that the FBiH and RS Governments did not have the authority to dispose of this state property in any way with their decisions.”

The Constitutional Court reminded that the Law on the Temporary Prohibition of Disposal of State Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina stipulates that the temporary prohibition remains in effect until a state-level law regulating the ownership and management of state property is enacted by the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or until the High Representative decides otherwise.

Similar provisions are contained in the laws on the temporary prohibition of disposal of state property in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republika Srpska, and the Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The fact that the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH has not yet adopted a law regulating the ownership and management of state property does not justify the entity governments’ unauthorized disposal of this property,” the Constitutional Court of BiH emphasized.