RS Vice President urges Schmidt to impose state property law and warns of legal consequences

Duraković stressed that the legal framework already exists and is unambiguous, noting that the Constitutional Court of BiH, in cases U-1/11, U-8/19, U-9/19, and U-4/21, has definitively established that Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the legal successor of the Socialist Republic of BiH, is the holder of all state property, including agricultural land, rivers, forests, and forest land.

“These rulings are not a starting point for negotiations, but a legal fact that every law must incorporate, not bypass,” Durakovic stated in his request.

He explained that the only acceptable solution is based on a functional-territorial model, which provides that the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina retains ownership of all property necessary for carrying out its constitutional responsibilities, as well as categories defined by the Constitutional Court as state property, while the entities are granted the right to manage and use property on their territory that does not fall under those categories.

“The key distinction is between ownership and management: entities may manage forests and use them economically, but formal ownership title derives from law, not from factual management. Any solution that equates the two is not a compromise but a reversal of judicial practice,” Durakovic said.

He particularly warned of a procedural risk that is rarely publicly emphasized – that decisions of the High Representative imposed under the Bonn Powers are not subject to review by the Constitutional Court of BiH, which has also been confirmed in domestic practice. If a new High Representative, under pressure to quickly close the OHR, imposes a law transferring forests, rivers, and agricultural land to the entities, such a law would effectively neutralize all aforementioned Constitutional Court rulings without any domestic legal remedy.

Durakovic stressed that the legal framework already exists and is unambiguous, noting that the Constitutional Court of BiH, in cases U-1/11, U-8/19, U-9/19, and U-4/21, has definitively established that Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the legal successor of the Socialist Republic of BiH, is the holder of all state property, including agricultural land, rivers, forests, and forest land.