Home > 2.1.3 Jurisdictions > BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA- Joint Opinion on amendments to the Election Law
 
 
 
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Paragraph 37
 

 An amendment to Article 6.7 of the Election Law grants the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina power to impose penalties “ex officio” as well as when “adjudicating” complaints. The OSCE/ODIHR final report on the 2006 elections noted that the “adjudicating authorities could also initiate investigations ex officio.”[20] The “ex officio” powers of the Commission should be considered carefully as the Commission must not only be an impartial tribunal, but must also appear to be impartial. As noted by the UN Human Rights Committee in General Comment 32:

 

“The requirement of impartiality has two aspects. First, judges must not allow their judgement to be influenced by personal bias or prejudice, nor harbour preconceptions about the particular case before them, nor act in ways that improperly promote the interests of one of the parties to the detriment of the other. Second, the tribunal must also appear to a reasonable observer to be impartial.”[21]