On 2 and 3 July 2026, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina held the 172nd plenary session deciding on requests for abstract control of constitutionality, a large number of appeals, requests for the adoption of interim measures and decisions on non-enforcement of decisions of the Constitutional Court.
Among the decisions adopted at the plenary session, the Constitutional Court singles out the following ones:
U-23/25 – In this case, having decided on the request of the Basic Court of Banja Luka, the Constitutional Court established that Article 9, paragraph 1, sub-paragraph 2(3)(1) and sub-paragraph (3)(2)(1) of the Law on Salaries of Employees in Primary and Secondary Schools and Student Dormitories in Republika Srpska (Official Gazette of the Republika Srpska, 11/19, 105/19, 49/21, 119/21, 68/22, 132/22 and 112/23), is compatible with Article 1 of Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention, Article II(4) of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as read with Article 7(a)(i) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Constitutional Court, inter alia, concludes that by prescribing a different salary coefficient for teachers with university degree and those with associate degrees established a “reasonable relationship of proportionality” between the means employed and the legitimate aim sought to be achieved and the different coefficients stipulated under the law for teachers with university degree and those with associate degrees has not led to discrimination against teachers with associate degrees in the enjoyment of their rights under Article 7(a)(i) of the International Covenant.
U-43/25 – In this case, 32 delegates of the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska filed with the Constitutional Court a request for review of constitutionality of Article 203a of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH, 3/03, 32/03, 37/03, 54/04, 61/04, 30/05, 53/06, 55/06, 32/07, 8/10, 47/14, 22/15, 40/15, 35/18, 46/21, 31/23 and 47/23) and Article 4 of the Law on the Amendments to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH, 47/23). The disputed Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code of BiH introduced the challenged Article 203a of the Criminal Code of BiH, which incriminates conduct that “an official person in an institution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republika Srpska, the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or in a canton, city or municipality or local community or any form of local government and self-government, or a responsible person, who does not apply, implement, enforce or otherwise comply with a decision of the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, or who prevents or otherwise obstructs its application, implementation or enforcement“. The contested Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code of BiH was imposed by the High Representative by decision no. 13/23 of 1 July 2023. The Constitutional Court holds that Article 203 of the BiH CC and Article 4 of the disputed Law are compatible with Article I(2) of the Constitution of BiH and Article 7 of the European Convention because the disputed provisions are accessible, specific and foreseeable, and the prescribed criminal law protection is directed at legitimate legal values associated with the reservation of the rule of law and the functioning of the legal order of BiH.
All decisions adopted at the plenary session will be communicated to the applicants/appellants within one month and published as soon as possible on the website of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
