FOURTH SECTION
Application no. 56666/12
Samir ŠLAKU
against Bosnia and Herzegovina
lodged on 8 August 2012
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicant, Mr Samir Šlaku, is a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina who was born in 1963 and lives in Sarajevo.
A. The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows
The applicant belongs to Albanian ethnic minority. He actively participates in the social and political life of the country.
On 26 August 2010 he obtained a written confirmation by the Central Election Commission that he was ineligible to stand for election to the Presidency and the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina because of his Albanian origin.
B. Relevant domestic law and practice
The relevant law and practice were set out in Sejdić and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina [GC], nos. 27996/06 and 34836/06, ECHR 2009. Notably, the Constitution makes a distinction between “constituent peoples” (persons who declare affiliation with Bosniacs, Croats and Serbs) and “others” (members of ethnic minorities and persons who do not declare affiliation with any particular group because of intermarriage, mixed parenthood, or other reasons). In the former Yugoslavia, a person’s ethnic affiliation was decided solely by that person, through a system of self-classification. Thus, no objective criteria, such as knowledge of a certain language or belonging to a specific religion were required. Moreover, there was no requirement of acceptance by other members of the ethnic group in question. Since the Constitution contains no provisions regarding the determination of one’s ethnicity it appears that it was assumed that the traditional self-classification would suffice. In accordance with the Constitution, only persons declaring affiliation with a “constituent people” are entitled to run for the House of Peoples and the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
COMPLAINTS
The applicant takes issue with his ineligibility to stand for election to the House of Peoples and the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He relies on Article 3 of Protocol No. 1, Article 14 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 12.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
1. Has the applicant suffered discrimination, contrary to Article 14 taken in conjunction with Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 and/or Article 1 of Protocol No. 12, arising from the very existence of the constitutional arrangements according to which only those belonging to one of the three “constituent peoples” are eligible to stand for election to the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina (see Sejdić and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina [GC], nos. 27996/06 and 34836/06, ECHR 2009)?
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