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Baralija v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, No. 30100/18, ECtHR (Fourth Section), 29 October 2019

Abstract

Impossibility for a citizen to exercise the right of active and passive electorate in administrative elections for a prolonged period.

Normative references

Art. 1 Prot. 12 ECHR
Art. 46 ECHR
 

Ruling

1. The inability to exercise the right of active and passive electorate only for some citizens registered in a specific constituency, for a prolonged period, constitutes a violation of the general prohibition of discrimination enshrined in art. 1 Prot. 12 ECHR.

2. It is a discrimination because some citizens are treated differently only on the basis of their residence, without an objective and reasonable justification.
(In the present case, the applicant complains the violation of the general prohibition of discrimination because, by the mere fact of being a resident of Mostar, she has not been able to exercise the right of active and passive electorate since 2008, as the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia- Herzegovina did not modify the electoral law, as sanctioned by the Constitutional Court).