Diplomatic sources told N1 that the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christan Schmidt, will react by Monday midnight to prevent the entry into force of the Law on Immovable Property of the Republika of Srpska (RS) entity.

The Peace Implementation Council (PIC) is having an extraordinary session on Monday, and last week the Office of the High Representative in BiH requested that the Constitutional Court of BiH urgently react regarding the entry into force of the Law on Immovable Property of the RS in order to prevent “irreparable damage”.

Disputed law will have legal impact as soon as it's in force. Court should exercise urgency on this issue and prevent irreparable damage to State interests. Maintaining rule of law is key to ensuring legality, functionality, and good investment environment https://t.co/rt8u3k1IyB

— OHR BiH (@OHR_BiH) February 22, 2023

The diplomatic sources told N1 that the Peace Implementation Council is giving Schmidt the green light to react to the said law and his reaction is expected by midnight.

According to the RS Law on Immovable Property, all immovable property used by the authorities of the RS, local self-government units, public companies, public institutions and all other services established by that BiH entity belongs to them.

This law was adopted at the end of December last year in the RS National Assembly.

In February 2022, the RS parliament adopted a previous law that had the same name but it was suspended by the High Representative in April when he decided it would not be implemented until the BiH Constitutional Court decided whether it was in accordance with the BiH Constitution.

In September, the BiH Constitutional Court overturned the law, but a new law was adopted by the RS National Assembly, which was very similar to the old one, except for the provision that it would not apply to property that was managed as property of BiH until December 31, 1991.

The Law on the Temporary Prohibition of the Disposal of State Property from 2005, which was imposed by the then High Representative in BiH Paddy Ashdown, prohibited the disposal of state property until the adoption of a new law at the BiH level, which would determine which property belongs to which level of government.