29 Nov Discrimination due to lack of local elections

In the case of Baralija v. Bosnia and Herzegovina (application no. 30100/18, 29.10.2019) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 12 (general prohibition of discrimination) to the European Convention on Human Rights. 

The case concerned a legal void which made it impossible for the applicant, a local politician living in Mostar, to vote or stand in elections. The applicant, Irma Baralija, is a national of Bosnia and Herzegovina who is president of the local branch of the political party Naša stranka

The Court found that that legal void had been created by the authorities’ failure to enforce a 2010 Constitutional Court ruling concerning arrangements for voting in local elections in Mostar and telling the authorities to harmonise the relevant legislation with the Constitution. That had in turn led to a situation where the last local elections in Mostar had been held in 2008 and the city had been governed since 2012 by a mayor who did not have the required democratic legitimacy. Such a situation was incompatible with the rule of law. 

The Court could not therefore accept the Government’s justification for the prolonged delay in enforcing the ruling, namely the difficulties in establishing a long-term and effective power-sharing mechanism for the city council so as to maintain peace and to facilitate dialogue between the different ethnic groups in Mostar. The State had therefore failed to comply with its duty to take measures to protect Ms Baralija from discriminatory treatment on the grounds of her place of residence and to hold democratic elections in Mostar. It also held, unanimously, under Article 46 (binding force and implementation) that the State had to amend the relevant legislation, at the latest within six months of this judgment becoming final.

References from the official website of the European Convention on Human Rights