The Venice Commission plans to attend a number of meetings with relevant election participants aimed at providing expert assistance in the process of continuous discussions on the necessary amendments to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Election Law, with regard to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (FBiH) House of People’s election.

As agreed by the political parties of the FBiH, in the context of the EU/US facilitation efforts on electoral reform, and following a formal request made by the EU, the Venice Commission will attend a series of meetings with the relevant electoral stakeholders in order to provide expert assistance in the process of on-going discussions on necessary changes to electoral legislation, in particular concerning the election of the House of Peoples of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.  

Two years ago the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ruled that some provisions of the Election Law were inconsistent with the state Constitution. Since then the authorities have failed to act in the legally allowed timeframe resulting in a further court ruling to delete two sections of the Election Law that treat the matter of representation in the FBiH House of Peoples.

The ongoing political talks on the electoral reform in Bosnia have been in a deadlock for some time, despite the mediation of international representatives in the country, who took the advisory role in these negotiations.