Municipalities and cities in the Federation of BiH
Local self-government · FBiH
Municipalities and cities have their own bodies, property, budgets and responsibilities. They lie within cantonal territories, but local self-government is not merely the last link in a cantonal government’s chain of command. Some cities have both city and municipal bodies.
Institutions and how they are chosen
- Municipal or city council
Representative decision-making: adopts the statute, local regulations, budget, development and spatial plans, and reviews the executive’s work.
Election / appointment: Councils are generally directly elected at local elections. Sarajevo City Council is indirectly elected through municipal councils under the City’s special arrangements.
- Municipal or city mayor
Executive authority: proposes and executes the budget, implements council decisions and heads the local administration. A local unit generally has no parliamentary government with ministers.
Election / appointment: Generally directly elected. Sarajevo and Mostar city councils elect their mayors under special rules, rather than citizens directly.
- Competent courts
Judicial protection: a municipal court, despite its name, is not a body of the municipal council or mayor; it operates within the FBiH judicial system.
Election / appointment: The HJPC of BiH appoints judges, not the local council. The legality of acts and the right to local self-government are protected before competent courts through prescribed procedures.
Institutions at this level
What is this level responsible for?
- Water supply, waste, public cleanliness, lighting, local roads, parks and other utility infrastructure, under the law.
- Local development, urban and spatial plans, management of local property and the budget, and local fees within the legal framework.
- Local public transport, preschool institutions, culture, sport, and protection and rescue; the specific division with other bodies and institutions depends on applicable regulations.
- Local community bodies and other forms of citizen participation enable local involvement; they are not a new entity or canton.
Important distinctions
- Own responsibilities are protected by law; delegated functions from other levels and supervision of those functions are not the same as managing a unit’s own local affairs.
- The council and mayor have separate mandates and responsibilities; a council majority does not automatically mean that the council elected the mayor.
- The City of Sarajevo is not the same as Sarajevo Canton. The term ‘city’ also does not mean that every local unit has the same internal organisation.
- Sarajevo and Mostar are local exceptions in mayoral election in FBiH; the assembly also elects the mayor of Brčko District, a separate unit.