Published on 17 July 2023

FOURTH SECTION

Application no. 16613/23 Zlatan BEGIĆ against Bosnia and Herzegovina lodged on 13 April 2023 communicated on 29 June 2023

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The applicant is a high-ranking official of one of the most important multi-ethnic political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Democratic Front) and a member of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He does not declare affiliation with any “constituent people”. Although in accordance with domestic law only those who declare affiliation with one of the “constituent peoples” (Bosniacs, Croats or Serbs) are eligible to stand for election for the President/Vice-President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the applicant nevertheless applied for that position. On 2 February 2023 the Central Election Commission rejected his application on procedural grounds. The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina upheld that decision on 8 February 2023. The applicant has afterwards lodged a constitutional appeal and those proceedings are still pending. He complains of his ineligibility to stand for election for the President/Vice-President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He relies on Articles 14 and 17 of the Convention, Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 12.

QUESTION TO THE PARTIES

Has there been a breach of the applicant’s rights under Articles 14 and 17 of the Convention, Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 and/or Article 1 of Protocol No. 12, as a result of his ineligibility to stand for election for the President/Vice-President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (see, mutatis mutandis , Sejdić and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina [GC], nos. 27996/06 and 34836/06, ECHR 2009, and Zornić v. Bosnia and Herzegovina , no. 3681/06, 15 July 2014)?