Bosnia and Herzegovina Electoral System and ECHR, a Conflicting Relationship: Recent Developments and European Prospects
Bosnia and Herzegovina Electoral System and ECHR, a Conflicting Relationship: Recent Developments and European Prospects

Summary/Abstract: This paper focuses on the most important judgments issued by the European Court of Human Rights about Bosnia and Herzegovina electoral system. According to the Court, the ethnic and territorial principle on which this system is based is inconsistent with the principle of non-discrimination set by the Article 1 of Protocol no. 12 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. A recent decision (Pilav v. Bosnia and Herzegovina) has come after the Sejdić and Finci and the Zornić case, which already stated the inconsistency of the electoral system with the abovementioned principle. After a comparison among the sentences, the article closes with some musings on the trajectory of the country towards the accession into the European Union and its recent developments. The praxis for countries aspiring EU membership, states the obligatory respect of the so-called Copenhagen criteria, related with the market economy, the stability of democracy, the rule of law, the protection of fundamental rights and minorities, the adoption of European legislation as well as the Euro. Is Bosnia and Herzegovina following these requirements or the political standstill is still adversely influencing the approach to the Brussels institutions?

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