The Commission for Real Property Claims of Displaced Persons and Refugees (CRPC) was established by Annex 7 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It’s major function has been to receive and decide claims for real property from refugees and displaced persons, and thereby assist them in the exercise of their property rights. The CRPC, in the exercise of its Mandate, came to realise that certain fundamental changes were required, if any inhabitant of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) was to realise their property rights in the long term. Slowly, more and more displaced persons and refugees are able to return to properties they owned or occupied prior to the war, though much more progress is needed. In addition, however, those that wish to sell or relocate also face real difficulties – due to problems with the property registration system and an undeveloped real property market. While these latter problems certainly affect displaced persons and refugees, they also have wide implications for the rest of the population, and for the economic future of the country.

Cognisant of the problem, CRPC, with a grant from the World Bank Post Conflict Fund, undertook five months of field research from August – December 1999. It assessed the state of property records throughout BiH, analysed how the real estate market operated in practise, assessed the legislative and institutional framework, and determined critical areas for reform. In December 1999 and January 2000, CRPC analysed its findings and developed solutions with the help of outside international experts on land, cadastre, and real estate market reforms, and with the input of the main domestic actors. This report is a culmination of these efforts, and provides a series of findings and recommendations.