FOURTH SECTION
Application no. 3681/06
Azra ZORNIĆ
against Bosnia and Herzegovina
lodged on 19 December 2005
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicant, Ms Azra Zornić, is a Bosnian-Herzegovinian citizen, who was born in 1957 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 actively participates in the political life of the country. For instance, in 2002 she stood as a candidate of the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina for election to the parliament of one of the Entities (Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of two Entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska, and the Brčko District).
As she does not declare affiliation with any of the “constituent peoples” (namely, Bosniacs, Croats and Serbs), she is ineligible to stand for election to the second chamber of the State parliament (the House of Peoples) and to the collective Head of State (the Presidency).
B. Relevant international and 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.
COMPLAINT
The applicant takes issue with her ineligibility to stand for election to the House of Peoples and the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. She relies on Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 taken alone and in conjunction with Article 14.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
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 (Sejdić and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina [GC], nos. 27996/06 and 34836/06, ECHR 2009)?
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy