Originally from Enforcement of Money Judgments

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Prior to the commencement of the discussion on the enforcement of
foreign judgments, we will have a brief overview of the unique and
very peculiar constitutional set up of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its
administrative divisions.

Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of two entities; Federation of
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republic of Srpska. There is also the
Brcko District, which does not belong to either of the entities but is
under the control of the federal state institutions and of the
international community. The Cantons make the third level of a
political division, after the entities, the Brcko District and the federal
government. Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is divided into ten
cantons. All of the cantons have their own cantonal governments,
which fall under the law of Federation. Each of the cantons consists of
several municipalities, whilst the municipalities are further divided into
local communities.

I. PRESENT ATTITUDE AFFECTING ENFORCEMENT OF
FOREIGN MONEY JUDGMENTS

A. Describe the receptiveness of your government (including
courts) toward enforcement of foreign money judgments.

In accordance with the Law on Courts in FBiH, the actual
jurisdiction over the recognition of the judgments of foreign courts,
foreign trade courts, and foreign arbitrations, lies in the Cantonal
Court, which is the Court of first instance for the foreign judgments in
the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the District Court
would serve the same function in the Republic of Srpska. The Ministry
of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina play an important role in the
procedure of recognition of foreign court judgments, especially in
connection with the establishment of the existence of reciprocity,
without which there is no recognition of the foreign court judgment.

The procedure of enforcement of already recognized foreign court
judgments is conducted in accordance with the Law of Legal
Enforcement of FBiH and the Law of Legal Enforcement of RS, and it is
carried out by the municipal courts in FBiH or by the basic courts in RS.