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Subject: New ECMI Brief: Constitutional Reform and the ‘Spirit’ of Bosnia and Herzegovina
ECMI Issue Brief #7
Constitutional Reform and the ‘Spirit’ of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Valery Perry
February 2002
Available for download at www.ecmi.de
Critics of the General Framework Agreement for Peace
(GFAP, or Dayton Peace Agreement) have been pointing
out its inherent flaws and inconsistencies from the
moment the terms became public, and the real
challenges of implementation quickly became clear. For
the past six years there have been calls to revisit,
reform, or rewrite Dayton through a variety of
suggested procedures. The most aggressive voices for
change have suggested convening a meeting to develop a
‘Dayton II’, which would have as its main goal
solidification of the peace, rather than just
termination of the war. Instead, a more subtle
approach has been in practice since 1997, when the
High Representative’s powers were strengthened and his
mandate effectively widened. Under a more aggressive
implementation policy, the GFAP would be implemented
not purely according to the letter of the accords, but
according to ‘the spirit of Dayton’.
Defining this ‘spirit’ has been controversial and
challenging, and the current debate concerning the
reform of the Entity Constitutions to comply with the
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Constitutional Court’s
decision on the status and equality of the constituent
peoples in BiH will be a significant step in defining
both the spirit of Dayton, as well as the spirit and
character of BiH as a state. This brief explores this
complex issue and its potential implications for local
and international politicians in BiH. First, a short
background on the Constitutional Court decision is
presented. Second, the options currently under
discussion are reviewed, within the framework of
symmetrical and asymmetrical reform alternatives.
Third, the broad relevance of this single issue to the
larger issues concerning the legitimacy of the current
organization of the state of BiH is considered.
http://www.ecmi.de/doc/public_issue.html#b7
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