Complex public power regulation in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Dayton peace agreement

Abstract

Since the Dayton Peace Agreement, an international High Representative based in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has been charged with guiding and monitoring the country's peace implementation process. As the High Representative has come to play an increasingly active role in the country and to exercise governmental or public power in his own right, a complex system of ‘public power regulation’ has developed. Pursuant to this system, the public power exercised by domestic governmental authorities in BiH is regulated both through local checks and constraints (e.g. democratic elections and judicial review) and through interventions by the High Representative. In turn, the High Representative has allowed for some regulation of his own public power by international actors and actors/institutions within BiH. However, opportunities for regulating the High Representative are quite limited, raising concerns about the legitimacy of his exercise of public power in the country.