Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Vijeće ministara Bosne i Hercegovine Савјет министара Босне и Херцеговине
Overview
Established	3 January 1997; 27 years ago (1997-01-03)
State	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Leader	Chairman of the Council of Ministers
Main organ	Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ministries	9 (2023)
Headquarters	Trg BiH 1, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Website	vijeceministara.gov.ba

Politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Constitution Constitutional Court Dayton Agreement Peace Implementation Council High Representative: Christian Schmidt
Presidency Bosniak member Denis Bećirović Croat member Željko Komšić Serb member Željka Cvijanović (Chairwoman)
Parliament Executive Parliament House of Peoples House of Representatives Council of Ministers Cabinet (list) Chairwoman (list) Borjana Krišto
Recent elections General: 2014 2018 2022 Municipal: 2016 2020 2024 Political parties
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Elmedin Konaković Diplomatic missions of / in Bosnia and Herzegovina Nationality law Passport Visa requirements Visa policy EU accession NATO accession
Political divisions Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina President (list): Lidija Bradara Government Prime Minister: Nermin Nikšić Parliament House of Peoples House of Representatives Cantons Assemblies Republika Srpska President (list): Milorad Dodik Government Prime Minister: Radovan Višković National Assembly Speaker: Nenad Stevandić Brčko District International Supervisor: Jonathan Mennuti Mayor: Zijad Nišić
Bosnia and Herzegovina portal Other countries
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The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnian/Croatian: Vijeće ministara Bosne i Hercegovine, Serbian: Савјет министара Босне и Херцеговине), often called Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnian: Vlada Bosne i Hercegovine, Serbian: Влада Босне и Херцеговине), is the executive branch of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is also called the Cabinet.

According to Article V, Section 4 of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers is nominated by the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and confirmed by the national House of Representatives. The Chairman then appoints other ministers.

On 11 February 1999, Mirko Banjac, at the time Deputy Chair of the House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, instituted a request for, among other issues, the evaluation of the constitutionality of the Law on the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Ministries of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina, No. 4/97) which foresaw the existence of two Co-Chairs and a Vice-Chair of the Council of Ministers. In its decision the Court had, among other things, stated the following:

Article V.4 of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina defines the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is composed of the Chair of the Council of Ministers and a certain number of ministers as may be appropriate, who are responsible for the implementation of the policy and the decisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina from within the competencies of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina; the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina appoints the Chair of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who assumes the office upon the approval by the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina; the Chair of the Council of Ministers appoints the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Trade and other ministers as may be appropriate (no more than two thirds of the ministers may be appointed from the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina), who assume the office upon the approval by the House of Representatives; also, the Chair appoints deputy ministers (who may not be from the same constituent people as their ministers), who assume the office upon the approval by the House of Representatives. It follows from what has been stated above that the challenged provisions of the law defining the Co-Chairs and the Vice-Chair of the Council of Ministers are not in accordance with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, since the Constitution clearly establishes the traditional function of a Prime Minister designate who also appoints the ministers according to Article V.4 of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.^[1]

The Court gave the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina a three-month period from the date of publication of its decision on this matter in the Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina to bring the contested provisions of the Law in conformity with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the Parliamentary Assembly failed to do that, the Court, acting upon the request of the applicant and pursuant to its decision of 14 August 1999 and the legal standpoint exemplified in the reasons of the decision, established that certain provisions of the Law on Ministers and Ministries shall cease to be valid.^[2]

The Council is responsible for carrying out the policies and decisions in the fields of:

• foreign policy
• foreign trade policy
• customs policy
• monetary policy
• finances of the institutions and for the international obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• immigration, refugee, and asylum policy and regulation
• international and inter-Entity criminal law enforcement, including relations with Interpol
• establishment and operation of common and international communications facilities
• regulation of inter-Entity transportation
• air traffic control
• facilitation of inter-Entity coordination
• other matters as agreed by the Entities

• General Secretariat
• Economic Directorate
• Internal Politics Directorate
• Directorate for European Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Bureau for Legal Matters

The Cabinet is structured into the offices for the chairwoman of the Council of Ministers, the two vice chairs and 9 ministries.^[3]

• Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • List of Bosniak members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • List of Croat members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • List of Serb members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • List of members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina by time in office

• Website of the Council of Ministers