Notes
The former Yugoslav federal republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter BiH) has been since 1992 an independent democratic republic with a market-oriented economic system. The entry into state independence was marked by a civil war, which ended in 1995 with the conclusion of the Dayton Peace Agreement, part of which is also the current Constitution of BiH. The doctoral dissertation first presents the constitutional development of BiH and then deals with the Constitution of BiH, especially its formation, structure, content and basic characteristics. Since the Constitution of BiH is changing according to a predetermined rigid constitutional review procedure, the dissertation describes in detail all its phases and its two distinctive mechanisms; entity voting and protection of vital national interests. Next is the presentation of the only change to the Constitution of BiH up to this point and the unsuccessful attempts for a constitutional reform at a wider range. Since at the international level, BiH's main objective is to join the European Union (EU), the dissertation presents the development and organisation of the EU, its enlargement policy, the conditions for membership in the Union and all the steps of the accession process, with emphasis on the process of BiH's accession to the EU. Before entering the EU, BiH must meet the conditions of accession and align its legal order with the acquis communautaire. Despite the desire that the constitutions are as permanent and stable as possible, the constant socio-political development dictates changes also at the constitutional level. The core of the doctoral dissertation are constitutional changes, which, according to the author, are necessary for BiH's entry into the EU. The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the fundamental constitutional principle on which the entire organisation of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian authorities is based, establishes the principle of the constituent peoples - Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs, on the basis of which these nations are privileged, while the rest of the non- constitutive Bosnian-Herzegovinian population is discriminated against. Therefore, the doctoral thesis explores in what ways the current constitutional discrimination can be eliminated, revealing the already given constitutional-reform proposals by the Bosnian- Herzegovinian political parties and independent authors. The judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against BiH in cases where it confirmed the discriminatory nature of the provisions of the BiH Constitution and to which BiH as a member of the Council of Europe is committed, have also been presented. After the end of the Bosnian- Herzegovinian war in 1995, despite the proclaimed parliamentary democracy, control over the operation of BiH was taken over by the international community. Although almost 24 years have passed since then, the Office of the High Representative (OHR), whose activity is critically assessed in the dissertation, still operates in BiH. That is why the EU and the international community are constantly calling on BiH to take full control over its own country, which requires the strengthening of state institutions. In order to better understand the current disproportionate distribution of competences between the state authority and the entities - the Republic of Srpska (RS) and the Federation of BiH (FBiH), the dissertation also touches upon the organisation of the state regulation of BiH. In doing so, it does not limit itself merely to the presentation of the problem, but presents various constitutional-reform proposals for the new state regulation of BiH and the strengthening of state power. At the same time the dissertation emphasises the need to restructure the institutions and state authorities not only by drawing attention to the current fragmentation and wasting of the state apparatus, but also by presenting the constitutional-reform proposals of individual institutions at the state level. The author also touches upon more formal constitutional- reform reasons, such as the provision of a constitutional basis for the transfer of state sovereignty to EU bodies, a change in the relationship between EU law and national law, a change in the powers of the state bodies in EU affairs and changes that relate directly to BiH citizens. At the end of the dissertation the author presents the conclusions and her own constitutional-reform proposal. It contains all the changes that she considers necessary to enable BiH to enter the EU as an independent and functioning state that respects European democratic standards and implements the acquis.