Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Ustavni sud Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine) is the Federation’s constitutional court. It sits in Sarajevo and operates under the Federation Constitution and the Law on Procedure before the court. It works alongside the state-level Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska’s Constitutional Court.

It was established on March 30, 1994, by Article IV.C.1.1.(2) of the Federation Constitution, which also created the Federation’s Supreme Court and Court for Human Rights. The court’s rules cover its composition, jurisdiction, who can file cases, and the effect of its decisions.

For the first five years, three foreign judges were appointed by the President of the International Court of Justice after consultation with the Federation’s President and Vice President. Domestic judges were first appointed on September 30, 1994, and sworn in on November 9, 1994: Milan Bajić, Mirko Bošković, Muamer Herceglija, Omer Ibrahimagić, Katarina Mandić and Draško Vuleta. The three foreign judges—Bola Ajibola, Abdalah Fikri al-Hani and François Rigaux—were appointed on February 22, 1995. The constituent session was on January 10, 1996, and Omer Ibrahimagić became the first president.

Initially the court had an equal number of judges from Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats, with representation from other national groups. In 2002 amendments created the Council for the Protection of Vital National Interests to decide matters of vital national importance for the constituent peoples. The amendments also require at least two judges from each constituent nation and one judge from among others.

The current president is Vesna Budimir.