Bariša Čolak

Čolak was born on 1 January 1956 in Široki Brijeg, where he attended elementary and high school. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of University Džemal Bijedić of Mostar in 1979. He is currently attending postgraduate studies on subject Bosnia and Herzegovina and European Law, but because of his duties as a minister, study was on halt.

From 1979 to 1988 with a break from April 1980 to April 1981, he worked as director of the constructional hardware "Metalac Lištica" which was part of the SOKO company in Mostar. From 1988 to the end of 1993 he worked as a judge in Lištica, renamed Široki Brijeg. Čolak joined Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH) in 1993. After that, until 1996, he was assistant of the Minister of Justice, Deputy Minister of Justice and later Minister of Justice of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia. After the war, from 1996 until September 1999, he was the first Prime Minister of West Herzegovina Canton.

He was a member of the party's Municipal Board in Široki Brijeg and later member of the Cantonal Board of the West Herzegovina Canton and member of the Central Committee of the party. He was also repeatedly a member of the party's Presidency.

In 1999, he became the Federal Minister of Justice. During the 2000 elections he won 5,412 votes for a seat in the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but he continued to be a minister in the Government. From 2001 until 2002 he was acting president of the HDZ BiH, and in March 2002 he left Ministry of Justice and dedicated himself to the party's activity since he had become president of the HDZ BiH. At the elections of 2002, he won 16,721 votes and entered Federal Parliament. He remained party's president until 2005. In January 2003 he became Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina and held that duty until 2007. On 11 January 2007, he was named Minister of Justice, and he held this position until 31 March 2015. Since March 2015, Čolak has been a member of the House of Peoples. He is also a member of the Presidency of HDZ BiH.

Čolak is married to Anela Čolak; the couple has three children.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bariša Čolak.

• Biografija za Bariša Čolak. CIN (in Bosnian)
• House of Peoples, Parliament BiH - Bariša Čolak. Parliament BiH (in English)