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CH/02/12470 Army of the Federation is prohibited. Officers on active duty are not allowed to participate in any political activity except voting. Military personnel and all the persons in the service of the Army of the Federation are forbidden to strike.” 2. Law on Federal Ministries and Other Bodies of the Federal Administration (OG FBiH nos. 8/95, 2/96, 3/96 and 9/96)6 48. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina states that the applicant was appointed according to Article 21 paragraph 1 of the Law on Federal Ministries and Other Bodies of the Federal Administration. Article 21 paragraph 1 provides as follows: “The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, upon the proposal of the Minister, shall appoint Secretary of the Ministry, Deputy Ministers, Main Federal Inspector and Director of Administration and Administrative Organizations within the Ministry”. 3. Decree on more favorable conditions for acquiring the right to retirement pension by military insurees of the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: “the Decree”) (OG FBiH no. 2/00)7 49. The Federation of BiH states that the procedural decisions of 20 May 2001 regarding the applicant’s retirement and ceasing the applicant’s labour relation were issued in accordance with Articles 2, 3 and 7 of the Decree. 50. Article 2 provides as follows: “For the purpose of this Decree a military insuree is considered as a professional military person who holds that status under regulations regulating military service.” 51. Article 3 provides as follows: “For the purpose of rationalization and to decrease the number of the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s members, a military insuree under Article 2 of this Decree having at least 50 years of age and 20 years of service shall acquire the right to retirement pension under the Federal Ministry of Defence’s proposal. “ “Exceptionally, a military insuree shall acquire the conditions for a retirement pension by the decision of the Commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Federation of BiH if he/she has a minimum of 20 years of retirement service and the rank of a brigadier, i.e. a senior rank.” 52. Article 7 provides as follows: “A military insuree acquires a retirement pension under conditions established by this Decree if he/she has ten consecutive years of service as a military insuree and if he/she holds the status as a military insuree at the time of acquiring the right to pension.” “If the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance recognizes additional years of service (Official Gazette of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, no. 29/98) though the military insuree does not have ten consecutive years of service as a military insuree, any additional years of service shall be taken into account for acquiring the right to a retirement pension.” 6 This law was replaced by the issuance of the Law on Ministries of the Federation and other bodies of the Federal Administration, as published in the OG FBiH no. 58/02. 7 This decree was revoked by the issuance of the “Decree putting out of force the Decree on more favorable conditions for acquiring the right to retirement pension by military insurees of the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, as published in the OG FBiH no. 21/01. 9

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Obradovic v. Bosnia and Herzegovina

Judgment

Question Presented: Whether the plaintiff's dismissal from the military banned him from participating in the General Election?

Alleged Acts: The plaintiff was the Assistant Minister of Defense and released from his duties. The decision was then published in the Official Gazette, to which the plaintiff denies knowing. The plaintiff submitted his application as independent candidate in the General Election in 2002. The Election Commission denied the plaintiff's application because he was discharged in 2001 by the SFOR. The plaintiff asserted he was discharged by the Federation of Ministry of Defense not the SFOR.

Procedural history: The plaintiff brought this case against the Election Commission's decision in 2002. The Court found that the applicant was discharged by COMSFOR. Further, the argument that the plaintiff did not receive the complaint is unfounded because it was publicly available and the plaintiff found out on when he applied to run for the position in 2002.

Summary: In August of 2002 the Election Law was amended to remove prohibit all former military officers from seeking public office. The court considered the evidence surrounding the decision to dismiss him from the military. Accordingly, because the Election Commission was not able to hear the application, the plaintiff was deprived of procedural and legal safeguards that are enacted to preserve fairness and legal certainty.

Conclusion: The provision violated the plaintiff's right to participate in the Election under art. 3 of the First Protocol of the Convention.

Legal Issue(s)

Candidate Registration

Applicable Law(s): First Protocol of the Convention, art. 3; European Convention on Human Rights, art. 6, 3; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 25.

Region: Europe and Eurasia

Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Language of Decision

English

Court: Appellate Court

Election Type: General

Date of decision: Oct 10, 2003

Geolocation

Latitude: 43.85360605

Longitude: 18.378217221182695

: Geolocation

Primary Documents

Bosnia and Herzegovina- Obradovic v. Bosnia and Herzegovina.pdf
English
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Election Judgments - IFES

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Obradovic v. Bosnia and Herzegovina

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