Constitutional Court - Commentary on BiH Constitution

AP 129/04 Hadža et al.	20050527
AP 16/02 Odobašić	20030926
AP 2361/06 Vojniković	20080110
AP 250/04 A. R.	20040929
AP 752/04 S. P. et al.	20050118
CH/99/3375-A&M E. Ž.	20031205
U 2/98 Srabović	19980605
U 23/00 Vrhovac	20010416 OG of BiH, No. 10/01
U 30/01 Marković	20020829 OG of BiH, No. 24/02
U 45/03 V. B.	20040517
U 88/03 “Medimpex” d.o.o.	20040721
U 9/99 Z. O.	19990312

The competence of the Court commenced by the entry into force of the BiH Constitution, i.e., 14 December 1995. Therefore, the BiH Constitutional Court, in principle, cannot review any act issued by the public authorities before that date.³²⁹²Moreover, all violations of rights which had occurred in the period before the entry into force of the BiH Constitution, cannot be subject to the Court’s consideration.³²⁹³This also applies in case of complaints that the competent authorities did not take any action in respect of the allegations on the violation of the rights.³²⁹⁴

However, the limit is not so sharp when it comes to the proceedings that lasted even after the entry into force of the Constitution. On the one hand, there are proceedings in which decisions were taken only after 14 December 1995. On the other hand, the proceedings which commenced before the key date (14 December 1995) but the final decision has not been taken yet may be the subject of consideration by the BiH Constitutional Court. In such cases, the right of access to court or to a court decision within a reasonable time was violated only after the aforementioned date, or the violation of human rights is still in effect.³²⁹⁵The Parties are obliged to conduct all proceedings which had been instituted and conducted before that date within the meaning of Article 6 of the ECHR.³²⁹⁶So, for example, the BiH Constitutional Court is not ratione temporis competent to consider a case where an employee was dismissed in 1993 and where the ECHR was violated. However, the appellant is entitled to make an allegation of the violation of her right to a fair trial if the proceedings concerning that issue lasted even until 14 December 1995.³²⁹⁷The facts relating to the events prior to the entry into force of the Constitution can be relevant to the events which occurred after the entry into force of the Constitution as additional information, evidence and explanation. Therefore, it is an important issue how long certain proceedings lasted before 14 December 1995.³²⁹⁸

Footnotes

Compare, for example, U 2/98 or U 9/99.
U 30/01, paragraph 19; AP 2361/06, paragraph 9.
AP 250/04, paragraph 7.
Compare, U 23/00.
U 45/03, paragraph 17.
AP 16/02, paragraph 14 et seq.
AP 2349/06, paragraph 31; AP 752/04, paragraph 20, see also AP 129/04, paragraph 41 et seq.: a missing person case; U 88/03, paragraph 19: right matured before the key date, but it was allocated only after this date.