The European Court of Human Rights has determined that the combination of territorial and ethnic requirements constitutes discriminatory treatment contrary to Article 1 of Protocol No. 12 in the context of the right to participate in elections.
Upon the appeal of Slaven Kovačević, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has issued a judgment finding that his rights have been violated in the context of voting for candidates for the state House of Peoples and the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is because he is unable to vote for candidates who do not belong to the constituent peoples and do not reside in a specific entity.
Slaven Kovačević, now an adviser to the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Željka Komšić, turned to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, stating that his right has been violated because as a Bosnian Serb, he cannot decide on the election of a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the Serbian people, nor can he, as a Bosnian Serb from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, be a delegate in the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Istraga.ba reports that the Court has found that the current political system in Bosnia and Herzegovina has made ethnic representation more important than political, economic, social, and other issues. It has strengthened ethnic divisions within the country and undermined the democratic character of elections, privileging the “constituent peoples”.
The European Court of Human Rights has determined that the combination of territorial and ethnic requirements constitutes discriminatory treatment contrary to Article 1 of Protocol No. 12 in the context of the right to participate in elections for the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It considered the same to be true for the right to vote in the Presidential elections of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In short, the Court concludes that elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina are undemocratic, as reported by Istraga.ba.
The Court also paid special attention to the powers of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The judges state that the existence of the House of Peoples would be acceptable if its authority were limited to precisely defined vital national interests of the constituent peoples, rather than approving all laws. In the judgment, the Court suggests several solutions for the House of Peoples. The first solution is to reduce the powers of the House of Peoples. The second possible solution is to abolish the House of Peoples and incorporate ethnic interests within the Representative House. The third solution is to retain the House of Peoples in its current form, allowing all citizens to participate in its work.
The Court further states that representatives of the peoples in the House of Peoples must represent members of that people from the entire territory of the country, not just its individual parts.
The Belgian model is also proposed, in which citizens would first vote, and then elected representatives would decide which national group's caucus they would participate in.
Ethnicity, according to the Court in Strasbourg, cannot and must not outweigh political representation. It must be secondary.
More details about this judgment will be known in the coming days.
