Council of National Minorities in BiH
| CHAIR: |
Svatok, Andrija * |
|---|---|
| FIRST DEPUTY CHAIR: |
Vučurević, Tijana * |
| SECOND DEPUTY CHAIR: |
Kuvač, Velibor * |
| MEMBERS: |
Bicaj, Halil Ebner, Davor Finci, Jakob Gajić, Vjeročka Grbić, Marija Jovanović, Todorka Jusić, Nedžad Knežiček, Tihomir * Manzalović Šalaka, Jovanka Marković, Dragan Pašić Juhas, Eva Piotrovski, Dejan Putica, Nada * Radmilović, Mladen Varan, Hakan Vujović, Silvija |
| CONTACT | |
|
|
The Law on the Protection of the Rights of Members of National Minorities in BiH ("Official Gazette of BiH", no. 12/03, 76/05 and 93/08) defines the Council of National Minorities of BiH as a special advisory body of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH which provides opinions, advice and proposals to the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH on all matters concerning the rights, status and interests of national minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to the provisions of this law, the Council of National Minorities of BiH may delegate experts to work in the constitutional-legal committees and the Joint Committee on Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, when they discuss the rights, status and interests of national minorities.
The Law regulated the rights and obligations of members of national minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and duties of the authorities in BiH to respect and protect, preserve and develop the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity of each member of national minorities in BiH, who is a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina.Protection of national minorities and the rights and freedoms of these minorities is an integral part of international protection of human rights and freedoms. The Council of Europe's Framework Convention for Protection of National Minorities is directly applied and is an integral part of the legal system in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The law recognizes the following national minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Albanians, Austrians, Montenegrins, Czechs, Italians, Jews, Hungarians, Macedonians, Germans, Poles, Roma, Romanians, Russians, Rusyns, Slovaks, Slovenians, Turks and Ukrainians.
The decision on the creation of the Council of National Minorities of BiH (“Official Gazette of BiH, No. 38/06), adopted in April 2006 by the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, prescribes that the Council of National Minorities of BiH shall be consisted of one representative of each national minority under Article 3 of the Law on the Protection of rights of members of national minorities.
Parliamentary Assembly of BiH appoints the members of the Council of National Minorities by its decision, upon the proposal of the Joint Committee on Human Rights of both Houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, which is obliged to consult the national minority associations or other NGOs in the process of the selection of candidates.
The second convocation of the Council of National Minorities of BiH was appointed by the Decision of the House of Representatives at the session held on 18 July 2013 and the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH at the session held on 23 July 2013 ("Official Gazette of BiH", No. 60/13).
That decision of both houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, upon the proposal of the Joint Committee for Human Rights, Children's Rights, Youth, Immigration, Refugees, Asylum and Ethics of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, appointed the following to the Council of National Minorities of BiH: Halil Bicaj (Albanian), Nada Putica (Montenegrin) for the period from 1 August 2012 to 31 January 2014, Dragan Marković (Montenegrin) for the period from 1 February 2014 to 31 July 2015, i.e. until the end of the elected members’ mandate in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, Jovanka Manzalović-Šalaka (Czech), Jakob Finci (Jew), Tihomir Knežiček (Italian), Eva Pašić-Juhas (Hungarian), Vjeročka Gajić (Slovak), Todorka Jovanović (Macedonian), Velibor Kuvač (German), Dejan Piotrovski (Pole), Hakan Varan (Turkish), Silvija Vujović (Romanian), Marija Grbić (Slovenian), Andrija Svatok (Ukrainian), Mladen Radmilović (Russian), Tijana Vučurević (Rusyn) and Nedžad Jusić (Roma).
At the constitutive session of the third convocation of the Council of National Minorities of BiH, held on 18 September 2013, the representative of the Italian national minority Tihomir Knežiček was elected as the Chair of the Council of National Minorities of BiH, Andrija Svatok, the representative of the Ukrainian national minority for the First Deputy Chair and Nada Putica for the Second Deputy Chair, the representative of the Montenegrin national minority.
The Council of National Minorities of BiH elected Tijana Vučurević, the representative of the Rusyn national minority as the Second Deputy Chair at the 5th seesion held on 27 February 2014. Tijana Vučurević replaced the representative of the Montenegrin national minority, Nada Putica, whose mandate in this Council expired on 31 January 2014.
The Council of National Minorities of BiH, at its 46th session held on 28 February 2019, changed the leadership of this advisory body of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH. The representative of the Ukrainian national minority in BiH, Andrija Svatok, was elected as the Chair of the Council, the representative of the Rusyn national minority, Tijana Vučurević, as the First Deputy Chair, while the representative of the German national minority, Velibor Kuvač, was elected as the Second Deputy Chair.
The composition of the members of the second convocation of the Council of National Minorities of BiH was amended by the Decision of the House of Representatives at the session held on 11 May 2016 and the session of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH held on 27 May 2016 ("Official Gazette of BiH, No. 41/16). With this decision, Davor Ebner,the representative of the Austrian national minority, Davor Ebner, was appointed to the Council of National Minorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In accordance with the consent of the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, the Council of National Minorities of BiH adopted the Rules of Procedure of the Council of National Minorities of BiH in its second convocation at the 4th session, held on 27 December 2013, which regulates the organisation, manner and method of work of the Council of the National Minorities of BiH and exercising of the rights and duties of the members of the Council, as well as other matters relevant to the work of the Council of National Minorities of BiH.
During the second convocation of the Council of National Minorities of BiH, at the sessions of the House of Representatives, held on 3 February 2021, and of the House of Peoples, held respectively on 10 February 2021, the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH adopted the Decision on the Council of National Minorities of BiH. The Decision regulates the composition of the Council, the procedure for election and appointment of members of the Council, duration of mandate, competences of the Council, organisation and work of the Council, as well as other matters relevant to the work and functioning of the Council of National Minorities of BiH ("Official Gazette of BiH", No. 10/21). With the adoption of this decision, the following have ceased to be in force: Decision on the establishment of the Council of National Minorities of BiH ("Official Gazette of BiH", No. 38/06), Decision on amendments to the Decision on the establishment of the Council of National Minorities of BiH ("Official Gazette of BiH", No. 93/ 08), Decision on Amendments to the Decision on the Establishment of the Council of National Minorities of BiH ("Official Gazette of BiH", No. 53/09) and Decision on Amendments to the Decision on the Establishment of the Council of National Minorities of BiH ("Official Gazette of BiH", No. 60/14).