The 1995 Dayton peace accords left Brcko's final status to be resolved through arbitration, a process that took more than four years to complete. The arbitrations created a Special District for the entire pre-war area whose territory belongs to both Entities which forms the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. An Annex to the Final Award, issued by the Arbitral Tribunal on 18 August 1999, deals with issues such as the structure of the District Government, the judicial and penal system, the police, education, taxation and others.

The Final Award established the Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an autonomous district held in “condominium” by the Federation and the RS. In so doing, the Arbitration Tribunal removed the District from the “exclusive control of either Entity and placed its governance in the hands of an independent District government, that was both multi-ethnic and democratic, under the sovereignty of the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The Final Award stemmed from the Arbitral Tribunal’s decision in Rome, Italy, on February 14, 1997, to establish the office of a Supervisor for the Brcko District. The Supervisor (the High Representative) was vested with the responsibility of implementing the Dayton Agreement in the Brcko area, strengthening the democratic institutions in Brcko, and was given the authority to promulgate binding Regulations and Orders to further these goals.

For more information visit the Government of Brcko and the High Representative

Office of the High Representative

The Government of Brcko District