USLOV ISCRPLJENOSTI DOMAĆIH PRAVNIH LIJEKOVA U POSTUPCIMA PRED EVROPSKIM SUDOM ZA LJUDSKA PRAVA – PRIMJER BOSNE I HERCEGOVINE
EXHAUSTION OF DOMESTIC REMEDIES IN PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS - THE EXAMPLE OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Summary/Abstract: Article 35, paragraph 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) of 1950 provides that an individual application to the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) may be submitted by individuals, non-governmental organizations, or groups of individuals against Convention member states. In order for such an application to be accepted, certain conditions must be fulfilled, including the condition of exhaustion of domestic remedies in the country being sued. Depending on the country in question, this will often mean that there must be a final judgment of the Supreme or Constitutional Court on the issue to which the application relates. In its practice, the Court has established certain rules in deciding on this condition, and it is considered that this issue should be approached with a certain flexibility and that it is not an automatic or absolute rule. For example, the Court has determined that this condition may be fulfilled even after the application is submitted to the Court, but before a decision is made on the admissibility of the case for decision before the Court, or that there may be certain special circumstances when this condition does not have to be fulfilled. This paper will analyze the Court’s case law regarding the issue of exhaustion of domestic remedies, and how this issue is regulated in Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e., what procedure is provided for by domestic legislation to satisfy this condition. Given the specific constitutional arrangement of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the organization of courts, this paper will analyze the procedure for fulfilling the condition of exhaustion of domestic remedies, and it will be analyzed in relation to the Baralija v. Bosnia and Herzegovina case, which represents an exception to the rule, since the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina did not decide on this case before the application to the Court was made, and the Court accepted and decided on it.

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