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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Civil law

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Bosnia and Herzegovina is a civil-law country whose constitution is an annex to the Dayton Peace Agreement of 1995. It is made up of two entities and a district, each with its own courts, under a state-level court and a Constitutional Court that includes international judges.

Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

Where the law comes from

  • The Constitution, which is Annex 4 of the Dayton Peace Agreement, the highest law
  • Laws of the state, of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, of the Republika Srpska and of the Brčko District
  • The European Convention on Human Rights, which applies directly and has priority
  • Decisions of the Constitutional Court

The main courts

  • The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with three international judges
  • The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for state-level matters
  • Courts of the Federation (with cantonal courts), of the Republika Srpska, and of Brčko District

Becoming a lawyer

A law degree and a bar exam, then membership of the Bar of the relevant entity.

What may surprise you

  • The Constitution itself is part of a peace treaty.
  • There are several parallel court systems within one country.
  • The European Convention on Human Rights has priority over all other laws.

Related systems

Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo

How this country is classified

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Bosnia and Herzegovina as: Civil law. It names the systems in order of importance.

The map colours a country by the first-named system, and shows both civil-law and common-law countries as “mixed”. It is a simplification, and real systems are rarely pure.

Other countries in the same family

Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso.

Sources

Sources last reviewed: October 2026.

TheLawToKnow Tools’s Legal Families Atlas is an educational overview. It simplifies on purpose, and it is not legal advice. For a real legal question about Bosnia and Herzegovina, consult a lawyer qualified there. Report a mistake.