Arbitration in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Sarajevo Rules, Costs and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards

Author: Attorney Azur Prnjavorac · Updated: 13 July 2026

Most arbitration work in Bosnia and Herzegovina comes from foreign companies: suppliers, contractors, distributors and investors who trade with a partner registered in Sarajevo, Tuzla, Banja Luka, Mostar or Zenica and who want a dispute resolution clause they can actually rely on. Since 2025 those disputes are governed by a new set of institutional rules, known as the Sarajevo Rules, applied by the Arbitration Court at the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This page sets out how arbitration in Bosnia and Herzegovina works in practice: which disputes may be arbitrated, what a workable arbitration clause has to say, how a case moves from the claim to the award, what it costs, and how an award is enforced against assets held anywhere in the country, whether the debtor is in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Republika Srpska or in the Brcko District.

Arbitration in Bosnia and Herzegovina at a glance

Institution

Arbitration Court at the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an independent body, independent in its work and in its decisions.

Seat

Sarajevo. Hearings are held at the seat as a rule, but the President of the Arbitration Court may allow a hearing elsewhere.

Applicable rules

Rules of Procedure before the Arbitration Court at the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Sarajevo Rules, Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina No. 26/25, adopted on 18 March 2025.

Scope

International commercial arbitration and domestic arbitration, and conciliation before the same institution.

Tribunal

A sole arbitrator or three arbitrators. Where the parties have not agreed on the number, a sole arbitrator decides disputes up to BAM 100,000 and a panel of three decides the rest. Arbitrators may be domestic or foreign nationals, and the list of arbitrators is open.

Language

An official language of Bosnia and Herzegovina by default. English or another foreign language by agreement of the parties, who then bear the additional costs.

Duration

As a rule up to one year from the constitution of the tribunal. The award follows within 45 days of the close of the hearing, and within 15 days in the expedited procedure.

The award

Final, not subject to appeal, and carrying the force of a final judgment of an ordinary court.

Costs

Set by the Tariff of arbitration costs adopted by the Managing Board of the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Who administers arbitration in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina exists to represent and protect the interests of companies. Attached to it, and seated in Sarajevo, is the Arbitration Court, which is competent to resolve commercial and other property disputes by arbitration. It is the only standing arbitral institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it hears two kinds of cases: disputes between parties that are both seated in the country, and disputes in which at least one party is seated in another state.

The Arbitration Court is independent in its work and in its decisions. Its jurisdiction does not come from the state but from the will of the parties, which means it exists in a given case only because the contract says it does. That single sentence in the contract is what decides whether a German, Austrian, Swiss, Italian or other foreign supplier will later litigate for years before the municipal court in Sarajevo or Tuzla, or obtain a final and enforceable award within about a year.

The Sarajevo Rules: the framework in force since 2025

The Managing Board of the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Rules of Procedure before the Arbitration Court, known as the Sarajevo Rules, on 18 March 2025. They were published in the Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina No. 26/25 and entered into force eight days after publication. Disputes that were commenced earlier are completed under the rules that were in force on the day the dispute was initiated.

The Sarajevo Rules brought the practice considerably closer to international standards. The most important changes for a foreign party are these: an expedited procedure for smaller cases, an express power to order interim measures, including before the tribunal is constituted, service of documents by e-mail, the hearing of witnesses and experts by videoconference, an open list of arbitrators, a written declaration of independence and impartiality from every arbitrator, and the option to run the case under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules instead if the parties prefer.

We publish the complete text of the rules, in Bosnian, at Pravilnik o postupku pred Arbitraznim sudom pri Vanjskotrgovinskoj komori Bosne i Hercegovine (sarajevska pravila). Further legislation in English is collected on our legislation page.

The statutory basis: arbitration in the Civil Procedure Acts

Bosnia and Herzegovina has no standalone arbitration act. The statutory backbone of arbitration is the arbitration chapter of the Civil Procedure Acts: Articles 434 to 453 of the Civil Procedure Act of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina regulate arbitral tribunals, the Civil Procedure Act of Republika Srpska contains parallel provisions in the same articles, and the Civil Procedure Act of the Brcko District regulates arbitration in Articles 427 to 446. The chapter governs the form and validity of the arbitration agreement, the appointment and replacement of arbitrators, the essentials of the procedure, the rendering and the effect of the award, and the action for setting an award aside. The full text of the Civil Procedure Act of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is published in our legislation collection.

These provisions matter in two situations. They are the general law standing behind every institutional arbitration seated in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including proceedings before the Arbitration Court under the Sarajevo Rules. And they are the complete framework for ad hoc arbitration, in which the parties constitute the tribunal themselves without any institution: such an arbitration may be seated in Sarajevo, Tuzla or any other city in the Federation, and in Banja Luka or elsewhere in Republika Srpska under the parallel provisions, with the same statutory rules on the agreement, the arbitrators and the award.

Which disputes can be arbitrated

Three conditions have to be satisfied at the same time. The dispute must be a commercial one in which the parties are free to dispose of the subject matter. It must not fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the ordinary courts. And the parties must have agreed on the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Court. Where those conditions are met, the Arbitration Court may also act as a conciliator between the parties at the request of one or both of them.

In practice this covers the disputes that most often arise between a foreign company and a partner in Bosnia and Herzegovina: unpaid invoices and supply contracts, distribution and agency agreements, construction and engineering works, breach and termination of contract, damages, joint ventures and shareholder disputes. Matters reserved to the courts, such as registration in the land books or status matters, cannot be arbitrated. If your dispute falls outside arbitration, it belongs before the ordinary courts and is dealt with on our pages on commercial disputes in Bosnia and Herzegovina and disputes, litigation and arbitration.

The arbitration clause: what your contract should say

An arbitration agreement may be concluded for an existing dispute or for future disputes arising out of a defined legal relationship. It is validly concluded by contract, by an exchange of letters, telegrams or faxes, or by e-mail, and it is also valid where the clause sits in general terms and conditions that form part of the deal. The arbitration agreement is autonomous: if the main contract turns out to be null or never came into existence, the arbitration agreement survives. A related case law note on challenging an arbitration agreement after the arbitration has ended is available in Bosnian.

Where the parties want speed above all, a further sentence is worth adding: the parties agree that the expedited arbitration procedure under the Sarajevo Rules shall apply. If your existing contracts still contain the older clause referring to the book of rules on the organisation and operation of the Arbitration Court, they remain workable, but the clause should be brought up to date at the next amendment or renewal. We review and redraft arbitration clauses for companies entering the market before the dispute exists, which is the only moment at which the clause is cheap.

How the proceedings run, from claim to award

1. Claim. The proceedings begin with a written claim submitted to the Arbitration Court in five copies, setting out the parties, proof of the arbitration agreement, the subject matter and value of the dispute, the facts, the relief sought and the evidence, and appointing an arbitrator.
2. Answer. The respondent has 30 days to answer, to raise any objection to jurisdiction, to appoint its arbitrator, and, if it wishes, to bring a counterclaim.
3. Constitution of the tribunal. Where the parties have not agreed on the number of arbitrators, a sole arbitrator hears disputes up to BAM 100,000 and a panel of three hears the rest. Party appointed arbitrators choose the chairman within 30 days, failing which the Presidency of the Arbitration Court appoints. Every arbitrator signs a declaration of acceptance, availability, independence and impartiality.
4. Evidence and hearing. The tribunal examines the evidence, may call witnesses and appoint experts, and may hear witnesses and experts by videoconference. Hearings are held at the seat of the Arbitration Court in Sarajevo unless the President allows another venue, and the public is excluded unless the parties agree otherwise.
5. Award. The tribunal decides unanimously or by majority in closed session. The award must be reasoned on the facts and on the law and must be drafted so that it can be enforced in the countries where enforcement will be sought.

Confidentiality runs through the whole procedure. Identities are not disclosed without the consent of the parties, arbitrators are bound to keep confidential everything they learn, and the award is published only if the parties agree to it. For a company in a sector where a public commercial dispute is itself the damage, this is often the decisive argument for arbitration.

Expedited arbitration for disputes up to BAM 100,000

The expedited procedure applies automatically to domestic disputes worth up to BAM 100,000, roughly EUR 51,000, unless the parties have agreed otherwise. Parties in larger cases, and parties in disputes with an international element, can opt into it in the arbitration agreement. The case is heard by a sole arbitrator, pleadings are exchanged in paper and electronic form, the answer to the claim is due within 15 days, and the arbitrator may render the award without an oral hearing at all if neither party has asked for one. The award is due within 15 days, extendable once by a further 15 days on a reasoned request. For a supplier chasing unpaid invoices from a buyer in Bosnia and Herzegovina, this is by some distance the fastest binding route to an enforceable title.

Interim measures

Unless the parties have agreed otherwise, the Arbitration Court may order interim measures. It may order a party to act so as to preserve or restore a state of affairs, prohibit a party from acting, permit acts needed to preserve the position with regard to the subject matter, order the seizure of specified assets and place them in custody, provisionally regulate relations between the parties, order a party to post security, and secure evidence.

Two features matter for a foreign claimant. Interim relief is available before the tribunal is constituted: the President of the Arbitration Court, or an arbitrator appointed by him, may order it. And in exceptionally urgent cases the measure may be ordered even before the claim is filed, in which case the decision fixes a deadline within which the claim must be brought or the measure lapses. That is what makes it possible to freeze a position in Sarajevo, Tuzla or Banja Luka while the arbitration is still being set up.

Costs of arbitration in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The costs are governed by the Tariff of arbitration costs adopted by the Managing Board of the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The claimant pays the filing fee and an advance on the costs of the arbitration when the claim is lodged, and the same applies to a counterclaim. If the amount is not paid within 15 days of the invitation, the claim is deemed withdrawn, so the deadline is not a formality. Additional advances are payable for interim measures, for experts and witnesses, and where a hearing is held away from the seat of the Arbitration Court. Travel costs of an arbitrator resident outside the country of the seat are borne by the party that appointed him.

Set against the total cost of a commercial case that runs through first instance, appeal and possibly revision before the ordinary courts, a single instance arbitration that finishes within a year is usually the cheaper outcome, and it is always the more predictable one.

The award: final, binding and enforceable

An arbitral award is final. It cannot be appealed, and it has the force of a final judgment of an ordinary court in Bosnia and Herzegovina. By accepting the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Court the parties undertake to perform the award. The President of the Arbitration Court affixes the enforceability clause, at the earliest eight days after the period for requesting correction of the award has expired. From that point the award is an enforcement title and is enforced before the competent court in the place where the debtor holds assets, whether that is Sarajevo, Tuzla, Banja Luka or any other city in the country. Where the debtor does not comply voluntarily, we initiate enforcement proceedings.

The only avenue against the award is an action to set it aside before the competent court, on the limited grounds provided by the arbitration chapter of the Civil Procedure Act of the relevant entity, described above. This is not a rehearing of the merits, and it does not reopen the facts. See also our case law note on setting aside an arbitral award, in Bosnian.

Recognition of foreign arbitral awards in Bosnia and Herzegovina

An award rendered abroad, whether under the ICC, VIAC, UNCITRAL or any other rules, does not act directly against assets in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It first has to be recognised in separate proceedings before the competent cantonal court in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina or district court in Republika Srpska. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a party to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, and the procedure is set out in the act on the resolution of conflict of laws. Once recognised, the foreign award has the same effect as a domestic decision and can be enforced. We handle these proceedings regularly and describe them on our pages on recognition of foreign court decisions and recognition and enforcement.

Arbitration or court litigation: the comparison

Arbitration lawyers for Bosnia and Herzegovina

Law Office Prnjavorac has been practising since 1993, with its seat in Tuzla and work across the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We act for foreign companies from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and other markets in arbitration before the Arbitration Court at the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, in conciliation before the same institution, and, where a matter belongs to the courts, before the competent courts throughout the country. Correspondence and hearings are handled in English, German and the official languages of the country.

We draft arbitration clauses, conduct arbitral proceedings and enforce awards for clients in every part of Bosnia and Herzegovina:

• Sarajevo
• Tuzla
• Banja Luka
• Mostar
• Zenica
• Bijeljina
• Doboj
• Prijedor
• Brcko District
• Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Republika Srpska

Arbitration in Bosnia and Herzegovina: frequently asked questions