The European Court of Human Rights (EHCR) on August 29 ruled in favor of a complaint by a Bosnian dignitary against Bosnia-Herzegovina and reiterated that the Balkan country's constitution violates human rights.
Following the 1995 Dayton agreement that put an end to the 1992-95 Bosnian War, Bosnia is divided into a Bosniak-Croat federation and the mainly Serb entity of Republika Srpska. It has a tripartite presidency made up of a representative of each of the three groups -- Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs.
Slaven Kovacevic, an adviser to Zeljko Komsic, the Croat member of the tripartite presidency, complained to the EHCR about being constitutionally barred from taking part in the vote for Serb members of the presidency.
According to the Bosnian Constitution, a Bosniak and a Croat should be elected presidents in the Bosniak-Croat federation and a Serb should be voted in as president in Republika Srpska, a provision that prevents members of any other ethnic or religious groups from running for office for those positions.
Furthermore, Bosniaks and Croats residing in Republika Srpska or Serbs residing in the Bosniak-Croat federation cannot run for office or vote in their respective place of residence.
Kovacevic complained at the ECHR that Bosnia's constitution and the election law do not allow him to vote for candidates running for president of Republika Srpska, confining him to cast a vote only for the Croat and Bosniak members of the tripartite presidency.
In its latest ruling issued on August 29, the ECHR found that the combination of territorial and ethnic restrictions outlined in the constitution amounted to discrimination.
The Strasbourg-based court said ethnicity cannot and must not prevail over political representation.
It also stated that members of the House of Peoples -- one of Bosnia's two parliament chambers -- must be elected from the entire territory of Bosnia, not just from its separate entities.
“No one should be forced to vote only according to prescribed ethnic lines, irrespective of their political views,” read the court’s verdict.
The ruling marks the sixth time since 2009 that the ECHR has declared that the Bosnian Constitution and its election law violate the European Convention on Human Rights.
In all previous judgments, the ECHR stated that Bosnia is obliged to abolish provisions in the constitution and the election law that discriminate against national minorities, citizens, but also constituent peoples in one of the entities, by preventing them from participating in elections for members of the presidency and the House of Peoples.
All the ECHR verdicts have yet to be implemented.
Implementation would require constitutional amendments to be adopted with a two-thirds majority of the vote in parliament.
However, the ruling political parties have not been able to agree on such amendments and their political programs are often ethnically centered.
The European Court of Human Rights has jurisdiction to rule on cases brought forward by individuals, groups, or states concerning violations of civil and political rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights.