The Parliamentary Assembly of BiH 2006 - 2010 FACTS ON BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA The state of Bosnia and Herzegovina is comprised of two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska. Br~ko District has a special status. The present constitutional-legal system of Bosnia and Herzegovina is determined by the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was initialed in Dayton (USA) on 21 November 1995 and signed in Paris (France) on 14 December 1995. The government, at the state level, is divided into the: a) Legislative (Parliamentary Territory: 52.197 square meters Assembly of BiH); Population: 4.332.339 (Bosniak 43.5%; Serb 31.3%, Croat 17.6%, Other 7.6%, b) Executive (Presidency of BiH as per the 1991 Population Census) and Council of Ministers of BiH); Capital: Sarajevo, 289,973 inhabitants and Other major cities: Banja Luka, Tuzla, Zenica, Mostar c) Judiciary (Constitutional Languages: Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian Court of BiH and Court Scripts: Latin and Cyrillic of BiH). Currency: Convertible Mark - BAM (1 BAM = 0,51 €) Coat of Arms of BiH Flag of BiH 2 Sarajevo, 2008 Sarajevo, 2008 3 PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA The Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina was established with the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which was agreed to in the town of Dayton (USA) during the month of November and was signed on 14 December 1995 in Paris. This highest-level legislative body of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of two Houses, the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples, and all legislative decisions require approval in both Houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH. Prior to 2002 the mandate of Members of the Parliamentary Assembly lasted for two years, but since the 2002 elections they have been elected and delegated four-year mandates. The Parliamentary Assembly adopts laws, approves the budget, and makes decisions on the sources and the amount of revenue needed for financing the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its international obligations. The Parliamentary Assembly confirms the appointment of the Chair and Members of the BiH Council of Ministers, gives consent for the ratification of international treaties and decides on other issues that are necessary for it to exercise its own responsibilities or those assigned to it by an agreement between the entities. The Houses of the Parliamentary Assembly perform legislative, informative and oversight activities and regulate internal organization and their own operating methods. The seat of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH is in Sarajevo, Trg BiH 1. CONSTITUTION OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina is an integral part of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, better known as the Dayton Peace Agreement, which was initialed on 21 November 1995 in the American town of Dayton and signed on 14 December 1995 in Paris. The text of the Constitution of BiH is represented in Annex 4 of the adopted peace agreement which provided Bosnia and Herzegovina with a complex and decentralised state structure consisting of two entities, the Federation of BiH and the Republika Srpska. The original text of the Constitution of BiH is written in the English language. 4 Sarajevo, 2008 LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE A bill may be introduced by any representative, any committee of the House, any joint committee, both Houses, as well as by the BiH Presidency and the BiH Council of Ministers within the scope of their respective competencies. The bill is submitted to the Speaker who forwards it immediately to the Collegium. The Collegium shall decide within seven days to which committee the proposed draft law should be assigned, forward it to the Constitutional-Legal Committee for its opinion on compliance with the BiH Constitution and the legal system and then forward it to the competent committee for an opinion on the principles on which the proposed draft law is grounded. If the Collegium decides that a Joint Committee of both Houses is the competent committee, the bill is delivered to the Joint Collegium. Upon confirmation by the Joint Collegium that the Joint Committee is the competent committee, the bill is delivered to the Constitutional-Legal committees of the Houses. After the Constitutional-Legal committees provide their opinion, the procedure is continued by the relevant Joint Committee pursuant to the Rules of Procedure of the Houses. Upon receipt of the opinions from the Constitutional-Legal Committee and the competent committee, which is delivered by the Speaker of the House, the Collegium puts the draft law onto the agenda of a House session that is scheduled to take place within 7 to 15 days. The discussion in the House is conducted in two readings. The discussion in the House commences with the first reading, which deals with the need to pass the draft law and the principles the draft law is based on, and takes into consideration the opinions provided by the Constitutional-Legal Committees and the competent committee from the first phase of deliberation. After the first reading, the competent committee discusses the draft law again. During this phase, the authorised proponents in the competent committee may submit amendments to the text of the draft law. The second reading consists of a discussion and vote on proposed amendments, and a vote on the law in its final form. A law is considered adopted after both Houses have approved identical versions of it. If the versions adopted by both Houses are not identical, a Joint Commission is established in order to attempt to reach an agreement on an identical text. If one of the Houses does not adopt the report of the Joint Commission, the draft law shall be deemed rejected. Sarajevo, 2008 5 The design phase of the Assembly building of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina lasted from 1975 to 1977, after which the construction work started on building a useful office space of approximately 25,000 m². The designer of this project was professor Juraj Najthart and during the design and implementation phases the project was managed by professor Hamdija Salihovi} and his associates. The construction of this large building was finished in the latter part of 1980 and was initially used by the Assembly and some Ministries of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. When it was designed and built, the Assembly building was one of the best equipped government facilities in Europe. During the war, between 1992 and 1995, the building suffered significant damage and devastation but has been mostly restored in the post war period, from 1996 to 2005. With the state's resources, as well as funding from the EU and the international community, the restoration work has been progressing constantly up to the present day. 6 Sarajevo, 2008 The entrance hall of the Parliamentary Assembly Building is adorned by a replica of Kulin Ban's Charter (one time Ruler of Bosnia), the work of the artist Adnan Had`irovi}. Kulin Ban's Charter is a document that was written on 29 August 1189 in the national language and Bosnian script, "Bosan~ica". Until now, this is the oldest found and preserved document that provides evidence of Bosnian statehood. KULIN BAN CHARTER Sarajevo, 2008 7 GRAND HALL An integral part of the facility of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH is the Grand Hall, which has 524 seats in the central area and an additional 112 seats for visitors and the media in the galleries. The Grand Hall was almost totally destroyed during the war. It was officially reopened on 30 September 2005 after the first phase of its reconstruction was completed. In the first phase of its reconstruction, the Grand Hall was equipped with multimedia hardware essential for the functioning of a modern parliamentary and congressional area. This basic IT infrastructure will allow for the introduction of new technologies in subsequent phases of development. Currently, the Grand Hall is used to host large public hearings, congresses, symposiums, conferences, and other similar manifestations. 1991. Apart from the Grand Hall and the White Hall, the facility of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH has four smaller meeting halls, including a ceremonial saloon and a hall for press conferences. The Assembly Hall on the fourth floor of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH facility is currently under reconstruction. 8 Sarajevo, 2008 WHITE HALL After 12 years of disuse, on 22 March 2004, the White Hall was reopened on the second floor of the BiH Institutions Building for a joint plenary session of both Houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH. Since then, Members of Parliament have had access to improved facilities and current technology, such as an electronic voting system, which enables a more reliable and quicker voting and decision-making process. The White Hall has a total of 180 seats. Apart from active participants, sessions can be attended by numerous guests such as journalists, pupils, students, representatives of non-governmental organisations and other interested individuals. With the reopening of the White Hall, conditions were established that could support the implementation of the "Open Parliament" project and high-quality television recording. Sarajevo, 2008 9 2006 GENERAL ELECTIONS RESULTS Excerpt from Verified Election Results for General Elections held on 1 October 2006 The House of Representatives of PABiH - from the Federation of BiH Total number of valid votes 853.372 Total number of invalid votes 68.492 Total number of seats 28 Total number of regular ballots 838.903 Total number of ballots received by mail 9.031 Total number of valid absentee ballots 4.171 Total number of valid ballots 1.267 PARTY NUMBER OF VOTES % SEATS DIRECT COMPENSATORY 1. SDA 217.961 25,54 % 8 7 1 2.