Council of Europe engaged consultants to provide an expert’s Opinion on the current Law on the protection of rights of persons belonging to national minorities in BiH upon request from the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
After extensive consultations, the opinion is finalised and, on the one hand, it covers article-by-article analysis of the Law in light of Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in order to reflect applicable European standards. On the other hand, it provides a comparative analysis of the Law in comparison to the Albanian Law on National Minorities and recent developments concerning the Serbian legislation on National Councils of National Minorities.
The opinion identified a number of issues which are incompatible with applicable European standards, most particularly the excessively high thresholds of number of national minorities needed for them to gain or request their rights and it is recommended that these are to be abolished as a matter of urgency. Among other issues, it has been also advised to discuss possible Amendments on the Law concerning “clearer obligation of State authorities on all levels to support by financial and others means, in a proportionate way, activities aiming at the preservation and promotion of the distinct cultural identity of national minorities, including media outlets”.
Opinion was developed within the project "Strengthening the protection of national minorities in BiH" that is funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe. This project is part of the joint programme called “Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey”, implemented by the Council of Europe.
For more information on this Opinion, please contact Council of Europe office in Sarajevo.
