Equal Constitution for All – Equal Rights for All Citizens

Introduction

During Sarajevo Fellowship Action Week, Fellows Julia Perendyk, Jelena Velisavljević, and Neven Rokvić implemented a project with the aim to initiate a discussion on constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the first two weeks of the Fellowship, Fellows report becoming acutely aware of the numerous discriminatory clauses in the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the frustrations they caused for specialists in human rights protection. These discriminatory clauses are mainly tied to the ethnic requirements for running for positions such as members of the Presidency, House of Peoples (representative body), or voting. Despite multiple European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judgments declaring the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina discriminatory towards its citizens based on ethnicity and place of residence, the authorities have yet to implement the necessary reforms. To ensure the country’s constitution complies with the European Convention on Human Rights (declared as primary to national law in Article 2(2) of the Constitution), the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and other referenced international conventions, these provisions must be amended.

However, the topic of constitutional reform is not prominent in the media or public discourse. To raise awareness about these issues and to collaboratively envision potential reforms with relevant experts, the group decided to organize a panel discussion titled “Equal Constitution for All: Drafting an Inclusive Future – Ensuring Equal Rights for All” (original title in Bosnian: “Ustav za sve – jednakaka prava za sve: Pišemo inkluzivnu budućnost”).

Project Objectives

1. Explore the attitudes of Bosnian citizens towards their Constitution and educate them on their rights.
2. Challenge the power-sharing model based on ethnicity presented in the constitution.
3. Present possible directions for constitutional reform to align with international standards and societal changes.
4. Encourage decision-making among the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina by involving them in the constitution-drafting process.

To gain expert perspectives, Fellows invited three distinguished speakers to the panel: Ambassador Jakob Finci, the plaintiff in the Sejdić and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina case before the ECHR; Aiša Telalović, an expert in human rights protection and international organizations; and Dr. Slaven Kovačević, a political scientist, plaintiff in the ECHR case Kovačević v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a consultant in the Presidency. Organizing the panel as a moderated discussion allowed Fellows to understand how the constitution has infringed on the political rights of Bosnian citizens and what actions they have taken in response. The discussion covered challenging the current power-sharing model based on the three constituent peoples and others, understanding the term “constituent,” and exploring possible alternatives. To encourage participation and decision-making, the panel was conluded with a series of questions from the audience and an interactive exercise that gave all participants the opportunity to write about their own vision for constitutional reform.

The consensus from the discussion was that this topic needs more space in public discourse and greater attention from young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, underscoring the importance of the project.