Today, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has held, by electronic means, 109th session of the Grand Chamber of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Of decisions it adopted today the Constitutional Court has singled out the following:
AP-3548/18 - wherein the Constitutional Court concluded that there had been a violation of the appellant’s right to property under Article II(3)(k) of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the European Convention”) in a situation where administration authorities and courts had dismissed the appellant’s request for the payment of the default interest on untimely filed tax returns on added value (VAT), by applying arbitrarily the relevant law, which was the reason why it could not be concluded that the interference with the appellant’s right to property had been “lawful” within the meaning of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention.
AP 3436/18 - wherein the Constitutional Court concluded that there had been a violation of the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time under Article II(3)(e) of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Article 6(1) of the European Convention in a situation where the criminal proceedings against the appellant had lasted for more than 24 years, while the overall duration of the proceedings had been contributed to also by the Basic Court in Mrkonjić Grad, before which the case had been pending for more than seven years at the time of lodging the appeal.
AP 5250/18 - wherein the Constitutional Court concluded that there had been a violation of the appellant’s right to a fair trial under Article II(3)(e) of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Article 6(1) of the European Convention in a situation where the challenged decision of the Cantonal Court in Tuzla had been based on an arbitrary application of the provision of Article 4, paragraph 1, item 13 of the Law on Utility Services. The Constitutional Court indicated that it followed clearly from the mentioned law provision that the obligation to remove stray dogs was not restricted exclusively to public surfaces, rather it prescribed a general obligation of removal of stray dogs, which would make it possible to accomplish ratio legis of the protection of animals and their housing in appropriate shelters, on the one hand, and the protection of the population, inter alia from possible attacks by stray dogs, as was the case at hand, on the other hand.
AP 4424/18 - wherein the Constitutional Court concluded that there had been a violation of the appellant’s right to a fair trial in relation to the rendering of a decision within a reasonable time, as one of the aspects of the right to a fair trial under Article II(3)(e) of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Article 6(1) of the European Convention in a situation where the respective civil proceedings had lasted for 17 years and 10 months, during which time of the duration of the proceedings the ordinary courts failed to provide objectively acceptable reasons, namely they provided no reasons whatsoever.
All decisions adopted at today’s session will be delivered to the appellants within one month and published as soon as possible on the website of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
