Box 6.7. Ethnic representation in the EDRB in a post-conflict setting in Bosnia and Herzegovina Zoran Dokovic In 1995 the representatives of three conflicting parties signed a peace agreement in Dayton, USA, defining Bosnia and Herzegovina as the state of three constitutive nations: Bosniacs, Serbs and Croats, composed of two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and the Republika Srpska (RS) with Brcko District. The political landscape is divided along these ethnic lines and few political parties manage to secure votes on other grounds. The rotating presidency is divided between the three ethnicities: voters in the FBiH vote for the Bosniac and Croat President and those in the RS vote for the Serb President. These peculiarities remain in the constitution regardless of the diminishing control of the international community over the post-conflict process. The EMB, which is also responsible for some first- and second-instance EDR, is the Central Election Commission (CEC, Centralna Izborna Komisija Središnje Izborno Povjerenstvo), which is appointed by the Parliament (Parlamentarna skupština Bosne i Hercegovine) for a five-year term. Its composition also ensures ethnic representation, including two Bosniacs, two Serbs, two Croats and one member who represents other ethnic minorities. The final-instance EDRB is the Appellate Division of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Until 2001, the OSCE mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina was fully empowered to conduct elections and work on the design of the permanent electoral legislation. The 2006 general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina were the first elections since the Dayton Agreement to be fully administered by the Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities. However, the international community retained an advisory role within the CEC for these elections. 97 6. Principles and guarantees of EDR systems • transparent mechanisms for selecting and appointing its members, or at least those of its highest-level organ, based on the merits of the candidates and according to gender- or ethnic-based inclusiveness criteria, and ensuring that they will not be bound by debts of gratitude, fidelity, or animosity with respect to any individual or group; • the technical and professional requirements necessary to be nominated to be a member of an EDRB in order to be able to undertake the important and complex responsibility of delivering electoral justice in an impartial way; • a reflection of necessary consensus among political parties on the importance of criteria for the selection and/or appointment of EDRB members; and • a stipulation that the composition of EDRBs should take account of gender as well as, where applicable, being inclusive with respect to ethnic diversity (see box 6.7).