The Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina requested the addition of documentation in the case related to the initiation of an administrative dispute due to amendments to the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance (PIO), federal representative Almedin Aliefendić confirmed to the media.
The dispute primarily refers to Article 81 of the Law on PIO, which regulates the method of calculating the lowest old-age pensions, but also raises the question of the legality of retroactive application of regulations, especially if it produces negative consequences for citizens.
Disputed member
On March 12, the request for constitutional review was initiated by the Club of Independent Representatives in the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament, with the support of representatives of the DF, SDA and the Republican Party.
“The Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina requested an amendment, I prepared and agreed with the team that worked on this case, including lawyer and representative Admir Čavalić, and we submitted the documentation.
We expect the Court to give a final opinion on this issue and determine whether the retroactive application of the law is legal”, said Aliefendić for Factor.
According to the previous decision, persons with 15 years of service and 65 years of age were entitled to the lowest pension, which currently amounts to 666.76 KM. However, changes to Article 81 introduced a different calculation model.
Lower pensions
The new method of calculation, which is similar to the solution from Republika Srpska, foresees that persons with up to 20 years of service and 65 years of age cannot have a pension lower than 60 percent of the average pension from December of the previous year. According to current data, it amounts to about 434 KM.
This change caused concern, especially among workers who were left without paid seniority during the post-war period.
Many of them today have between 16 and 20 years of service, although they worked much longer, often in conditions of undeclared work or without paid contributions.
Retroactive application
Additional uncertainties relate to the application of the law in the first days of 2026. Namely, the amendments to the Law on PIO were adopted in the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament on January 23, 2026, but are applied retroactively from January 1 of the same year.
This opens the question of the status of persons who retired in the period from January 1 to 23, that is, before the formal adoption of the changes. Also, it remains unclear how those who are potentially harmed by this application of the law will be treated.
The decision of the FBiH Constitutional Court on this case could have significant consequences for a large number of pensioners and future beneficiaries of the pension system in the Federation of BiH.
Interim measure requested
Due to the danger of serious consequences that could arise from the application of the amended Article 81 of the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance and the general retroactive application of the amended Law on PIO, a group of federal representatives requested an assessment of the constitutionality of Article 81 and the retroactive application of the law.
They also requested the adoption of a temporary measure by which the Constitutional Court would suspend the application of the disputed provisions until the final decision in this case.
