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14 Int'l Legal Persp. 44 (2004)
The Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina - A Case Study in Transitional Justice

handle is hein.journals/intlegp14 and id is 46 raw text is: by J. david yeager' -the human rights chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina a case study in transitional justice introduction For more than seven years since the end of the multi-eth- nic armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a unique court of domestic and international judges has been con- sidering thousands of allegations of ongoing human rights violations in that country. This article examines the work of the Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina, its origins and competencies, procedures, landmark jurisprudence, and issues related to the approaching end of the Chamber's mandate and the future of human rights protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It concludes that the Chamber's body of case law will serve as useful precedent for both domestic and international decision makers, but that Bosnia and Herzegovina and the international community must address the coming end of the Chamber's mandate with a transition that will ensure continuing protection of human rights at the high level established by the Chamber. origins and mandate of the human rights chamber After nearly four years of warfare in the former Yugoslavia, characterized by brutal campaigns to gain ter- ritory through ethnic cleansing, the United States bro- kered the Dayton Peace Agreement, which was later signed in Paris on December 14, 1995. The Dayton Peace Agreement consists of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina plus eleven separate Annexes covering specific aspects of its implementation. Of fundamental importance are Annex 4, which establish- es the Constitution of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina and gives legal recognition to its two sub-states, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska (the entities); and Annex 6, the Agreement on Human Rights. Under the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the European Convention on Human Rights3 is directly appli- cable in the country with priority over all domestic laws. This direct incorporation of international human rights pro- tections into Bosnia and Herzegovina's domestic law repre- sents an arguably greater institutionalization of those rights, and corresponding legal obligations, than can be found in any other state.4 Article II of the Constitution stipulates that all human rights and freedoms enumerated in fifteen other international human rights treaties shall be secured to all persons within Bosnia and Herzegovina without discrimi- nation. This does not only mean that a Party must refrain from violating those rights; rather it imposes a positive obli- gation upon the Parties to ensure, protect, and prevent vio- lations of those rights.' Article II further obligates the gov- ernments of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its two entities to ensure the highest level of internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms and calls for the creation of a Human Rights Commission under Annex 6 to the Dayton Peace Agreement.' INTERNATIONAL LEGAL PERSPECTIVES

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