Council of National Minorities in BiH
| CHAIR: |
Fafulić, Mujo |
|---|---|
| FIRST DEPUTY CHAIR: |
Jovanović, Todorka |
| SECOND DEPUTY CHAIR: |
Džolan, Violeta |
| MEMBERS: |
Bobrek, Miroslav Ebner, Davor Grin, Ernest Hemun, Mihal Kotjelnikov, Igor Kuvač, Velibor Mićin, Saša Mustagrudić, Skender Piotrovski, Dejan Rover, Franjo Sokoli - Begović, Zamire Štefek, Danijel Tešić, Dragica Varan, Hakan Vaško, Željko |
| 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 third convocation of the Council of National Minorities of BiH was appointed by the Decision of the House of Representatives at the session held on 27 June 2022 and the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH at the session held on 27 July 2022 ("Official Gazette of BiH", No. 50/22).
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: Zamire Sokoli-Begović (Albanian), Davor Ebner (Austrian), Skender Mustagrudić (Montenegrin), Željko Vaško (Czech), Franjo Rover (Italian), Ernest Green (Jew), Saša Mićin (Hungarian), Todorka Jovanović (Macedonian), Velibor Kuvač (German), Dejan Piotrovski (Pole), Mujo Fafulić (Roma), Violeta Džolan (Romanian), Igor Kotjelnikov (Russian), Mihal Hemun (Rusyn), Danijel Štefek (Slovak), Dragica Tešić (Slovenian), Hakan Varan (Turkish) and Miroslav Bobrek (Ukrainian).
At the constitutive session of the third convocation of the Council of National Minorities of BiH, held on 16 November 2022, the representative of the Roma national minority Mujo Fafulić was elected as the Chair of the Council of National Minorities of BiH, the representative of the Macedonian national minority Todorka Jovanović was elected as the First Deputy Chair, and Violeta Džolan as the Second Deputy Chair as the representative of the Romanian national minority.
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.
The Parliamentary Assembly 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, 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).