Vehabović: European Court rulings must be a driver of constitutional and electoral reforms

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Judge of the European Court of Human Rights Faris Vehabović was the introductory speaker at today's session of "Krug 99", on the topic of “ECHR rulings and changes to the Constitution and electoral legislation in BiH. 

“The ECHR rulings have identified where the problem lies, and those are certain articles of the BiH Constitution, namely Articles 4 and 5. I must note that the entire process of amendments should not stop only at changes to the Constitution and the Election Law, because it is clear that discriminatory provisions are embedded in the constitutions of the entities and cantons, as well as a series of laws. It is clear that these provisions favor constituent peoples and ethnic groups, which leads to a system that the ECHR has not identified as democracy, but rather a failed attempt at democratic governance. I would call it an ethnocracy in which ethnic groups hold power and defend what the Constitution and electoral legislation have enabled them to do”; Vehabović stated. 

He added that the European Court of Human Rights, when issuing rulings, did not consider the consequences they might cause in BiH, since, in layman's terms, it is a banal issue of introducing a civilizational achievement that every citizen has equal rights. 

“In BiH, this is obviously not a banal issue, and one type of discrimination has become a way of life. What is concerning is that more and more people are getting used to the normality of such a system and the normality that some have more rights than others, which is unacceptable in European frameworks, absolutely unacceptable. To me personally and to my colleagues, it was entirely logical to issue such rulings that detected these occurrences. The rulings must be the first and basic driver for adopting new solutions, which will respect all the specificities of BiH, but at the same time bring it into the circle of countries that are organized in a democratic way by adopting appropriate solutions, which will create a balance and put things in their place”, Vehabović emphasized in the introduction to today's session.