Sejdić and Finci v Bosnia and Herzegovina (App. Nos. 27996/06 and 34836/06)

Briefed on: 12 September 2016 and on 25 May 2023

The case concerns constitutionally entrenched racial discrimination in relation to the right to vote and the right to stand for elections. In 2009, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found Bosnia and Herzegovina to be in breach of Protocol 12, which provides for the right to equal treatment and non-discrimination, in failing to allow its citizens who are not ‘Constituent Peoples’ to stand for election to the Presidency.

In 2023, the briefing was held by Chelsea Gonzalez, Programme Officer at Minority Rights Group International. Minority Rights Group International provided participants with explanations regarding the Dayton Accords and Electoral Quotas, explaining the effects of the quota system, which disenfranchises minorities, discriminates against constituent peoples living in ‘wrong’ entity and facilitates the trickling down of discrimination to local level. Minority Rights Group International discussed the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Rule 9 Submission from April 2023, setting out the Commissioner’s primary concerns regarding the recent developments at national level.