The AEOBiH Legal Council was established in February 2001 at the initiative of the AEOBiH Steering Board with the aim of developing a strong advisory capacity in the area of electoral legislation, for AEOBiH members as well as other interested groups, such as voters, political parties, state institutions and non-governmental organizations. The Legal Council is composed of 18 lawyers and judges who are members of the AEOBiH, representing all three constituent peoples from both entities of BiH and Brcko District.

During 2001 and 2002, the Legal Council completed the following tasks:

• A detailed analysis of the Draft Election Law, including a written report focusing on specific chapters;
• Liaising with representatives of the OHR, OSCE, and the Provisional Election Commission (PEC) to obtain information about the Draft Election Law from those who participated in its creation and adoption, and later with the newly established BiH authorities at the state and entity levels, including the Election Commission of BiH (ECBiH);
• Participation in professional development courses, including the AEOBiH Election Course and Media and Presentation Skills Training program;
• Analysis of the AEOBiH statute and other legal acts, resulting in concrete amendments that were adopted by the AEOBiH Steering Board to improve the existing texts; and
• Draft rules of procedure regarding the mechanisms to ensure prior consultations with the AEOBiH in the process of appointment of the Federal and Cantonal Election Commissions’ members in FBiH (this text is result of the AEOBiH inclusion in the Federal Law on Nomination of the Bodies for Conduct of Elections as the consultative body for selecting Federal Election Commission members).

With the Election Commission of BiH and the Election Law in place, the Legal Council focused on drafting specific documents for implementation of the Election Law. The following documents were submitted to the ECBiH:

• Code of Conduct of Election Officials;
• Proposal of Minimum Requirements for Members of the Election Commissions;
• Instruction about Procedures concerning Complaints from Chapter 6 of the Election Law; and
• Opinion about Implementation of Article 18.8. (3) of the Election Law; and

AEOBiH has carried out and/or participated in several public awareness raising campaigns. The most significant ones of these campaigns are:

• Campaign of pleading for the youth and returnees participatin in elections
• The Initiative for legal definition of the finanfing the electorial activities and work of electoral organs

Also, the AEOBiH Legal Council participated in preparation of the Draft Convention on Election Standards, Electoral Rights and Freedoms for the Association of Central and Eastern European Election Officials (ACEEEO), whose adoption is expected with the Council of Europe.

The AEOBiH Legal Council is a unique group in Bosnia and Herzegovina that is committed to continue developing its capacity to build a more democratic election process in BiH. Through its advisory activities, the Legal Council is able to apply its expertise to find solutions to existing dilemmas in the electoral code and to share this information with all relevant actors. Due largely to the dedication of the AEOBiH Legal Council, the AEOBiH has been recognized as an important actor in the BiH electoral arena. In the future, the Legal Council will work on revisions of sub-regulation acts of the Election Commission of BiH as well as on proposal of changes and amendments to the Election Law of BiH.

AEOBiH Legal Council Members

Zvonko Mijan - Minister of Justice of FBiH
Mirko Bošković - Judge, FBiH Constitutional Court
Milan Bosić – Judge of the Municipal Court, Trebinje
Obren Bužanin – Judge of the County Court, Banja Luka
Edma Grcić – Judge of the Municipal Court, Visoko
Fatima Đukić Bajramović – Judge of the Municipal Court, Zenica
Asim Ibrahimović – lawyer, Sarajevo
Željka Marković-Sekulić – lawyer, Zenica
Željko Mikić – Judge of the Municipal Court, Orašje
Duško Miloica – Judge of the Municipal Court, Prijedor
Anica Nakić – Judge of the Municipal Court, Čitluk
Emin Novalić – lawyer, Busovača
Branislav Radinović – lawyer, Gradiška
Marko Raguž – Judge of the Municipal Court, Stolac
Katja Skočibušić – lawyer, Tomislavgrad
Goran Salihović – Judge of the Municipal Court, Tuzla
Milan Zjajić – lawyer, Banja Luka
Slobodan Zobenica – Judge of the Municipal Court, Brčko District
Nedžida Salihović, attorney, Sarajevo