Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Ustavni sud Bosne i Hercegovine), No. U-2/22, 26 May 2022

Allocation of competence between central state and federal entities.

Art. 1, par. 1, Constitution Bosnia and Herzegovina
Art. 3, par. 5, Constitution Bosnia and Herzegovina
Art. 6, par. 3, Constitution Bosnia and Herzegovina

1. The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina establishes a clear hierarchy of regulatory sources, which the entities and their administrative units must fully adhere to. This means that legislative acts adopted by the federated entities must not conflict with constitutional provisions, not even with state laws, which are adopted in those areas of exclusive competence of the central state. Moreover, for those matters that have passed into the sphere of state competence, as a result of the cession by the entities, there cannot - as a logical consequence - be a competence of the entities over these, for possible subsequent reintegration. Indeed, these areas have become the exclusive competence of the State and can only be regulated by the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(Republika Srpska, one of the two federal entities that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina, has attempted, through a series of acts of secondary source, to change the division of competences between the State and the entities, in contravention of the constitutional dictate).