Members of the Delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe held a meeting with the Head of the Council of Europe’s Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights

Without constitutional changes, the judgments of the Court in Strasbourg cannot be implemented

The Chair of the Delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Saša Magazinović, together with delegation members Branislav Borenović and Mladen Bosić, met today in Strasbourg with Bojana Nikolin, Head of the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights at the Council of Europe, and Legal Advisor Nedim Kulenović.

Representatives of the Department noted that Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to the group of countries that generally complies with the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, pointing out that 83% of the Court’s judgments concerning Bosnia and Herzegovina have already been implemented — a total of approximately 170 decisions. However, they emphasised that a group of five key judgments concerning discrimination in the electoral process remains unimplemented. The first among them is the judgment in the case of “Sejdić and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina”.

It was underlined during the meeting that these judgments fall under the enhanced supervision procedure and are among those to which the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe pays particular attention.

The representatives of the Department reiterated the position of the Committee of Ministers that the implementation of these judgments — which address discrimination in the electoral system — cannot be achieved without constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The participants also exchanged views on the current political situation following the threat to the Dayton constitutional framework and the obstruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European path by Milorad Dodik and the SNSD. It was concluded that such actions have a negative impact on the country’s stability, the pace of political processes, and progress towards EU membership.

Finally, the interlocutors agreed that ensuring equality for all citizens in the electoral process is a fundamental democratic and civilisational principle, and that this right must be fully guaranteed to the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this regard, it was emphasised that the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina will continue to benefit from the legal expertise of the Venice Commission.