ABSTRACT
Twelve years ago, in December 1995, the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) brought an end to the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, providing the legal framework—including a constitution—for the future development of this newly independent state with three constituent people (Bosnian Muslims/Bosniacs, Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Serbs). Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) was established as a state with two entities—the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and the Republika Srpska (RS). While the RS consists of only two levels of government, the municipalities and the entity government, the Federation being made up of ten cantons with considerable autonomy, embraces three levels of government. Resulting from the DPA's nature as a peace agreement between formerly warring parties, it prescribes not only the presence of an international military peace-keeping force in the country but also provides for the establishment of an international civilian authority, the Office of the High Representative (OHR), with far-reaching powers to oversee and actively contribute to the implementation of all civilian aspects of the peace agreement. Under the OHR's coordinating authority, a number of other international organizations (OSCE, UNHCR, UNDP) assist in the implementation of specific tasks as agreed upon in the DPA.
