This master’s thesis is a result of research conducted during six weeks in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The purpose of this study is to examine whether the contribution of the Dayton peace agreement to process of nation building in Bosnia has become counter productive as it contains elements of both nation-state and state-nation foundation. The study strives to understand the question of identity and how people in Bosnia view themselves and Others, and how they view the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina in combination with the Dayton peace agreement. Qualitative methods such as semi-structured and focused interviews as well as participatory and direct observations built the base for the data collection. The hermeneutic method is used as an approach to comprehend and to handle the findings. As my personal background contains pre-understandings of the chosen topic, I have chosen to use them throughout the research instead of ignoring them as the objective of this study is not to come to a final response of this topic, but instead to bring forward an alternative angle of the identified problem. The result of this study indicates that people in Bosnia and Herzegovina tend to identify in terms of ethno-national identity groups primarily where religion and territory have a decisive role in shaping identity, while a common Bosnian identity has fallen behind. It also reveals that the Dayton peace agreement damages the idea of a common Bosnian identity and questions the idea of Bosnia all together. This research suggests that a nation-state bottom-up process in Bosnia is little perceptible, due to the lack of a common Bosnian identity. The results from this study indicate that Bosnia does not fit the state-nation definition, nor the nation-state definition for several reasons while both state-nation and nation-state building are visible on regional levels. The Dayton peace agreement has initiated a very difficult political situation with extremely complex state structures and limited possibilities for change. The ethno-national division of three, and the constitutive tying of particular groups to specific territories, has hampered both the societal and political situation in Bosnia.

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Darstellung über den Jugoslawien-Konflikt am Beginn der 1990er Jahre; - mit einer Chronologie der Ereignisse, - mit Dayton-Abkommen (Dokumentation), - mit geographischen Kartenskizzen.:Erich Hocke: - Vorbemerkungen. - Konflikte im ehemaligen Jugoslawien und die Rolle von Streitkräften. (überarbeitete und aktualisierte Darstellung, Stand Dezember 1995) - Jugoslawien - Eine kleine Chronologie. Anhang: - Die Friedensvereinbarung von Dayton (Dokumentation). - Kartenskizze: Friedensabkommen für Bosnien; - Kartenskizze: Auf dem Territorium der vormaligen Sozialistischen Föderativen Republik Jugoslawien neu entstandene Staaten.

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No description available.

I Europa finns det flertal exempel på länder där den politiska makten utnyttjat sin maktposition, vilket har resulterat i ett lidande för befolkningen. Många länder och dess medborgare har varit utsatta för diktaturstyre, maktmissbruk och kränkningar av mänskliga rättigheter. En konstitution kan fungera som ett medel för att garantera medborgarna vissa fri- och rättigheter samt att begränsa den styrande makten från att kränka de värderingar som är tänkta att prägla samhället. Den mest grundläggande författningen i ett rättssystem utgörs av en eller flera grundläggande författningar, dessa grundlagar anger riktlinjer för vilka värderingar och normer som ska styra samhället. Grundlagen, konstitutionen eller statsförfattningen ska tillförsäkra en normgivande funktion i ett rättssystem genom att reglera bland annat bestämmelser om sin överordnade ställning. Den överordnade ställningen innebär att den genom sina stadganden ska vägleda den lagstiftande makten till att anta lagar som är förenliga med grundlagen. Konstitutionen kan också tillförsäkra alla medborgare deras rättigheter att delta i det politiska rummet, genom att föreskriva grundläggande värderingar som tillförsäkrar att minoriteters rättigheter garanteras. Ett viktigt element i konstitutionalismen är just att begränsa att en politiskt vald makt inte ska kunna ändra på grundläggande författningar som enbart syftar till att gynna majoritetsåsikter i landet. Däremot finns det inga krav på vilka värderingar som konstitutionen ska föreskriva, ett lands författning kan vara god eller ond och tillförsäkra medborgarna skilda rättigheter och binda landets lagstiftande makt på olika sätt. Bosnien och Hercegovina (BiH) är ett land som grundar sig på en konstitution som landet själv inte har författat. Konstitutionen är unik eftersom den är skapad av omvärlden i samband med Dayton Peace Agreement med syftet att bygga upp en stat som ska tillförsäkra fred och rättvisa. Sverige däremot är ett land som har en lång tradition av fred och ett stabilt välfungerande samhälle, ett land där den politiska makten verkar med folkets förtroende. Konstitutionen har historiskt sett inte haft en stark ställning i Sverige och behovet av att begränsa den politiska makten har inte alltid varit en prioritering. För att försäkra konstitutionens genomslag i ett land och att den efterlevs av den lagstiftande makten krävs det någon form av kontroller som kan tillförsäkra konstitutionens effekt. Kontrollerna kan göras i form av preventiv normkontroll som utövas innan parlamentet antagit en lag och ett system av efterhandskontroll av redan antagna lagar. Båda formerna av kontroll utövas i BiH och i Sverige. I BiH utövas den preventiva normkontrollen av The Constitutional Legal Commitee (Ustavnopravna Komisija), vilka granskar alla lagförslag och andra juridiska akter under lagstiftningsprocessen i parlamentet. I Sverige finns ett liknande organ, Lagrådet som på begäran av regeringen eller aktuellt riksdagsutskott uttalar sig om ett lagförslags grundlagsförenlighet innan lagen ska antas av riksdagen.  Utöver den preventiva kontrollen finns det även en möjlighet att genomföra efterhandskontroll av lagarnas grundlagsförenlighet i länderna. I BiH har författningsdomstolen ensam kompetens i att utöva den konkreta normkontrollen och har möjlighet att kräva en ändring av en lag eller att kräva upphävning av en rättsakt som bedömts vara oförenlig med den nationella konstitutionen. I Sverige utövas den konkreta normkontrollen av alla de allmänna domstolarna men också av förvaltningsmyndigheterna. Om något av dessa organ skulle förklara att en lag inte är förenlig med grundlagen kan de enbart åsidosätta den grundlagsstridiga lagen i det aktuella ärendet.9 BiH och Sverige är länder med tämligen olika konstitutioner och de har valt skilda metoder för att garantera konstitutionens genomslag. Uppsatsen kommer att belysa ländernas likheter och skillnader vid den konkreta normkontrollen samt undersöka vad för effekter dessa skilda modeller av konkret normkontroll ger för att försäkra konstitutionens värderingar och dess genomslag.

Title Capability of international law to resolve an ethnic conflict: case of Bosnia and Herzegovina Abstract The thesis deals with the complex issue of international law's capability to resolve an ethnic conflict, relying to a great extent on a case study of the Dayton system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It aims to take an interdisciplinary approach, focusing not only on legal issues but also on sociological and other relevant aspects. The first chapters attempt to summarize peace proposals preceding Dayton and are followed by a legal analysis of the adopted documents and a subsequent thorough examination of the most significant and visible aspects of their implementation. The last chapter then reviews the topic from the standpoint of conflict resolution. Several key questions are formulated in the preface: Is international law able to deter the risk of yet another outbreak of armed conflict in Bosnia? Are its limits or flawed imposition the immediate cause of the present state? Has the international regime in Bosnia become completely dissasociated from the sociological substratum? Whilst seeking for answers, much attention is paid to the perception and reception of the Dayton system by various interest groups within Bosnia's society as well as to international community's ensuing engagement in the country....

Proposed Topic: "Assessment of Multinational Federalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina" Registered in SIS: Yes Date of registration: 21.10.2011 Topic Characteristics: This research proposal will basically refer to functionality of federal values that lead to a federal political culture in the example of Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Dayton Peace Agreement signed in 1995 by focusing on the federal model that has been applied with Constitution, as a part of the said agreement. Hence, it will show to what extent the conflict that had led to the Bosnian War of 1992-1995 was resolved by implementing a federal model and constitution in 1995 and if so, what is the role of federalism in it. I have chosen the way of assessing multinational federalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina to evaluate federal system in post-war period in order to have a better perspective to observe the ability of federal state to enhance Bosnia as a unity. Today Bosnian Serbs, Bosnian Croats and Bosniaks constitute the main national identities, in Republika Srpska and in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, two constituent entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina .Republika Srpska, as it could be understood from the name- Serb Republic, is led by an administration representing a Serbian majority whereas Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), known...

<p>The aim of this study is to analyse the institutional problems which restrain the repatriation of refugees and displaced persons to and within Bosnia and Hercegovina with examples from the municipalities of Ilidza, Bosnia and Hercegovina. With intention to fulfil the aim of this study we will try to answer what problems that are connected to the Dayton Peace Agreement and how those problems impact the repatriation issue. Further we intend to discern what role the culture, values and norms play in the repatriation process. We also try to answer what formal institutional problems exist in BiH and what importance they constitute on the repatriation process. Finally we are discussing whether it is possible or not to institutionalise the repatriation process. The thesis is based on the interviews we made in BiH during the spring 2001.</p><p>During the war in BiH, more than 2,3 million people were displaced from their homes. Each of the wartime regimes allocated abandoned properties and established complex legal and administrative barriers to return, designed to make the separation of the population irreversible. In this way the separation of the population was permanent. Several years of international efforts have achieved a legal framework that recognises property rights as they stood at the beginning of the conflict, and establishes a legal and administrative claims process for the repossession of the property.</p><p>DPA is considered one of the most complicated peace agreements ever constructed and it consists of several objectives, which aim to uphold a tolerant and democratic constitutional state. There are several paradoxes connected to Annex 7 and the fact that both entities were allowed to have their own constitutions, in which they do not recognise each other constitutional rights, may seem peculiar when they at the same time are supposed to constitute one unity, one country. The federal bodies in the country began to develop before the national bodies were functioning. This has created inconsistencies between the different bodies and between the different legal frameworks and DPA still has a long way to go before being completely implemented.</p><p>Ethnic nationalist feelings play an important role in political life in BiH and they constitute an effective impediment in the repatriation process. Nationalism has become a common element in the daily life in BiH. Thinking of that the entity constitutions refer to the citizens in the opposite entity as others shows how they perceive each other. After the war each ethnic group seems to concentrate on protecting their own rights, otherwise they will be lost. Citizens in BiH do not have the same constitutional rights in both entities and before this question is solved, a safe minority return is not possible. </p><p>The functioning of the judicial system is an important factor in the repatriation process. A problem is that the laws are often contradictory or incomplete. This problem is visible on the local level, where politicians often do not know which law to refer to the result is that the local actors do not know how to interpret the laws and then they often do it arbitrarily or they just ignore the laws. The result is often a situation of passing the buck and the citizen stands powerless to the public officials’ demands. This problem is referred to as the state wall of administrative silence and it is a frequent phenomenon at the local level that severely delays the repatriation process. This attitude reciprocity has been common in both municipalities for a long time, as well as in BiH in general, which has resulted in a slow and inefficient repatriation process.</p><p>Post-war Bosnia and Hercegovina finds itself at a crossroads between an antiquated mechanism that protects state authorities on the one hand, and a modern state institution that serves the citizens and protects their rights on the other. In BiH the new institutions imposed by external powers meet the old institutions, which still are powerful. Those are not synchronised in a way they should, i.e. the old structure or the structure leftover from the collapse of Yugoslavia impedes the new structure rather then collaborating with it. The issue of repatriation has been caught in a structural chaos and BiH has a long way to go before a non-political integration can become a reality. </p>

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