Today, on 29 September 2016, at 10.00 hrs, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, sitting in plenary, held a public hearing in the procedure of decision-making in the Case no. U 23/14 related to the request of Dr Božo Ljubić (the Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time of filing the request) for the review of the constitutionality of the provisions of Articles 10.10, 10.12, 10.15 and 10.16 of the Subchapter B of the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH, nos. 23/01, 7/02, 9/02, 25/02, 4/04, 20/04, 25/05, 52/05, 65/05, 77/05, 11/06, 24/06, 32/07, 33/08, 37/08, 32/10, 18/13 and 7/14) and the provisions of Article 20.16A of the Chapter 20 – Transitional and Final Provisions of the Election Law.

The reason for holding the public hearing was the need to allow the parties to the proceedings before the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to present additional arguments in support of their positions, and to hear expert opinions and explanations relevant for the decision.

Pursuant to Article 16 of the Rules of the Constitutional Court of BiH, the parties to the proceedings before the Constitutional Court of BiH are as follows: the applicant submitting a dispute Dr Božo Ljubić (the Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time of filing the respective request), and the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina – the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples as the authors of the act which provisions are subject to the review of constitutionality.

The applicant holds that the challenged provisions of the Election Law are not in conformity with Articles I(2), II(1) and II(4) of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina in conjunction with Article 14 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the European Convention”), Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“the International Covenant”) in conjunction with Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 and Article 1 of Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention, and Article 1 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which make an integral part of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Annex I to the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina). The applicant pointed out that the provisions of the Election Law (Articles 10.10 through to 10.18) regulated the election of delegates to the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Article 20.16A determined the allocation of seats for each constituent people elected in each canton.

Pursuant to Article 46 of the Rules of the Constitutional Court of BiH, the Constitutional Court of BiH decided at the Plenary Session held on 26 May 2016 to hold a public hearing, where it would deliberate on the respective request.

The Constitutional Court of BiH determined the list of participants in the public hearing, as follows: the applicant, the House of Peoples and House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, the House of Peoples and House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Mission to BiH (“OSCE Mission to BiH”), the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Office of the High Representative for BiH, Prof Dr Goran Marković, the Faculty of Law of the University of Istočno Sarajevo, Prof Dr Zlatan Begić, the Faculty of Law of the University of Tuzla, and Prof Dr Zvonko Miljko, the Faculty of Law of the University of Mostar.

Only persons invited by the Constitutional Court may participate in the public hearing.

The following persons attended the public hearing: the applicant for the review of constitutionality Dr Božo Ljubić, along with associates Mr. Bariša Čolak, Mr. Ivan Vukoja and Mr. Josip Merdžo, the representatives of the author of the challenged law: Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, the representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH (House of Peoples and House of Representatives), the Chair of the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH Ms. Lidija Bradara and Expert Associate in the Legislative-Legal Commission of the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH Ms. Iris Jusufranić, the representative of the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the representative of the Office of the High Representative for BiH - OHR, the representatives of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina: Mr. Ahmet Rifatbegović, Mr. Nermin Tipura and Mr. Srđa Obradović, Prof Dr Goran Marković, the Faculty of Law of the University of Istočno Sarajevo, Prof Dr Zlatan Begić, the Faculty of Law of the University of Tuzla, Prof Dr Zvonko Miljko, the Faculty of Law of the University of Mostar, the representatives of the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia: Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to BiH H.E. Ivan Del Vechio, Advisor Minister in the Embassy Ms. Nives Tiganj, and the First Secretary in the Embassy Mr. Ivan Šegulić, the representatives of the Embassy of the United States of America to BiH, as well as the representatives of the Office of the Special Representative of the European Union to BiH: Head of Legal Service Ms. Branka Bajić and Political Advisor Mr. Petar Kraljević.

The participants presented their respective positions on the following legal issues:

1. The method of the election of delegates to the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH (they are elected from all ten cantons, a total of 17 delegates from amongst each of the three constituent peoples) and the principle of proportionality (the number of delegates of one constituent people in the House of Peoples from a single canton when compared with the number of inhabitants of the relevant canton).
2. The method of the election of delegates to the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH and five basic principles of the European election heritage (general, equal, free, secret and direct right to vote).
3. The method of the election of delegates to the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH and the guarantee of legitimate political representation based on democratic election of a delegate from the constituent people he/she represents and whose interests he/she represents.
4. The method of the election of delegates to the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH and basic principles of constituent status and equality under the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
5. The relationship between the Election Law of BiH and the Constitution of the Federation of BiH in accordance with the constitutional principles based on which the regulations are to be enacted, i.e. the mutual relationship between the Election Law of BiH and the Constitution of the Federation of BiH and the principles referred to in the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina invoked by the applicant.

Following the conclusion of the public hearing, pursuant to Article 55 of the Rules of the Constitutional Court, the President of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Mirsad Ćeman, concluded the public hearing and informed those in attendance that the Constitutional Court of BiH would adopt a decision in this case at one of the forthcoming sessions.