News: The ECHR declares the electoral law of Bosnia and Herzegovina discriminatory

In the Decision ECHR 235 (2023), the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on the appeal of Slaven Kovačević, adviser to Željko Komšić, a Croatian member of the tripartite Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina, who denounced the lack of representativeness of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina provides a tripartite Presidency: a Bosniak and a Croatian member for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a Serbian member for the Republika Srpska. This formula, therefore, excludes citizens who do not recognize themselves in any of the three constituent ethnic groups, both in terms of passive and active voting.

The applicant - not recognising himself in any of the three ethnic groups - complained that he had not been adequately represented during the 2022 presidential elections, as well as not being able to apply to the Chamber of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly.

The ECHR has established that the country was violating Art. 1 of Protocol No 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights on the "General Prohibition of Discrimination", adding that the current political system of Bosnia and Herzegovina was highly discriminatory with respect to citizens of ethnic minorities, increasing ethnic divisions and undermining the democratic nature of the electoral system.

The ruling of the Court moves in the direction of a constitutional reform repeatedly supported by the European Union in view of the enlargement process.

Photo credits: https://www.pexels.com/it-it/foto/edificio-bandiera-sarajevo-struttura-i...