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Stranka za Bosnu i Hercegovinu and Ilijaz Pialv v. Decision of the Tribunal of Bosnia and Herzegovina No. Iž-15/06, Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Grand Council), 10 August 2006, AP 2678/06

Abstract

Appeal dismissed as inadmissible by the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Normative references

Art. II/4 Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Art. VI/3, b) Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Art. 18/3, e) Regulations of the Constitutional Court of  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Art. V Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Art. 8/1 Electoral Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina 

Ruling

1. The appeal is dismissed on the grounds that the Constitutional Court ruled that there was no violation of the applicants' right to vote, as this is enshrined in the European Convention. Furthermore, it is recalled that the ECHR does have a higher position than the law in the Bosnian-Herzegovinian legal system, as enshrined in Article II, paragraph 2 of the Constitution, but this does not mean that it also has a higher position than the Constitution. 

2. In the present case, in fact, the Constitution provides for limitations on the right to vote for the Presidency for citizens who do not belong to one of the "constituent peoples". This is because the original intention of the constituents was to ensure the highest degree of equality between those ethnic groups that had been the actors of the conflict in the 1990s.
(The applicants, Mr Pilav and Party for Bosnia and herzegovina, challenged before the Constitutional Court the violation of his electoral rights, as he was prevented from standing in the presidential elections because of his place of residence).