Codification of Civil and Commercial Law in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Tradition, Transplantation, and Transition

Povlakić, Meliha and Bećić, Mehmed (2025) Codification of Civil and Commercial Law in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Tradition, Transplantation, and Transition. CENTRAL EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW, 6 (2). pp. 265-306. ISSN 2732-0707

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Abstract

The development of civil and commercial law in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been deeply shaped by its complex political history, spanning five key periods: Ottoman rule, the Austro-Hungarian administration, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, socialist Yugoslavia, and the post-independence era. Civil law evolved through a blend of old legal traditions and the Austrian Civil Code, while commercial law had continuity in codification, dating back to the late Ottoman period. The socialist period interrupted legal continuity, introducing new laws that partly remain in modern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Most of these socialist laws were replaced relatively quickly by new legislation. However, due to the new constitutional structure, this new civil and commercial legislation was not adopted at the state level, but at a lower - entity level. Today, civil law codification remains off the agenda, and commercial law continues to evolve in a fragmented way, leading to inconsistencies across jurisdictions. Broader constitutional and political crises continue to divert attention from crucial legal and economic reforms necessary for EU integration and international support.

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