The Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina arose out of the Scientific Society, founded in 1951, by the decision of the Assembly of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the highest state authority in the country, on the formation of the Scientific Society of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Scientific Society continued to operate as the highest-level institution concerned with science until the Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina passed a Law on the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1966. The Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina is charged, pursuant to this Law, with responsibility for the overall development of science and the arts, with organizing scientific research and arts-related events, with publishing papers written by its members and associates, and in general with the state of science and the arts and their development in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Academy is a wholly independent body, governed solely by the principles and interests of science and the independent convictions of its members. The Academy's Statute governs all aspects of its organization, management and operations in all the fields in which it is active.