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CH/02/12470 (l).Officers will not participate in any radio, television, Internet or other program or group discussion as an advocate for or supporter of any partisan political issue, party or candidate. (m).Officers shall not use contemptuous words against public office holders or candidates. (n).Officers will not display political signs, banners or posters on government or private vehicles or property. (o).Officers will not provide or arrange for the use of private or government vehicles for transportation of persons to a political rally or meeting or to vote. 43. Section 2f of Chapter 14 requires all military officers to support the Dayton Peace Agreement and provides as follows: “Military officers are expected to support the Implementation of the GFAP, which has been explained and supplemented in the Instructions To The Parties (ITP). Anti-Dayton Peace Agreement activities and obstructionism by any officer are not permitted, and constitute grounds for removal.” 44. Section 3 of Chapter 14 ---“Procedures”--- section 3c entitled “Promotions, Transfers, Retirements, Suspensions, and Removals within General Officer Ranks” provides that, “All actions to … demote, remove, suspend, or retire any serving General Officer requires the prior written approval of COMSFOR.” 45. Section 5 of Chapter 14, entitled “Failure to comply with the provisions of the ITP” provides as follows in paragraph b: “If any Party or any military member fails to comply with the standards of this Instruction, that Party of officer is subject to action by COMSFOR. Such actions may include, but are not limited to, disapproval of a nomination for promotion, suspension or removal of a noncompliant officer of any rank, restrictions or bans on training and/or equipment use, or disbandment of a unit or organisation.” B. Legal framework related to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1. Law on Defence of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina — hereinafter “OG FBiH” -- nos. 15/96, 23/02 and 28/03) 46. The Federation of BiH states that the decision ceasing the active duty of the applicant due to his retirement was issued in accordance with Article 22 paragraph 1 of the Law on Defence. This article provides as follows: “This law recognises the provisions of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina agreed on in Dayton which provide that: “Every member of the Presidency shall, by the nature of his/her function, have authorisations of civil command over the armed forces…All armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina shall act in pursuance to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.” 47. The Minister of Defence of the Federation of BiH, in his letter of 25 April 2001, stated that the applicant had violated Article 41 of the Law on Defence, and for this reason the Minister sought the COMSFOR to take appropriate action. Article 41 of the Law on Defence provides as follows: “Any political activity, establishment of parties, holding of political assemblies or political demonstrations, or any kind of discrimination on the basis of political membership, within the 8

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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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