Bosnia and Herzegovina and Council of Europe

Abstract

Admission of Bosnia and Herzegovina into the Council of Europe marked significant change in the position of this state in the. European system for the protection of human rights. Namely, instead of tire provision contained in the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina that the human rights and fundamental freedoms contained in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights shall be directly applied in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the European Convention itself is now being directly applied in its entirety as well as all the. control mechanisms of the European Convention, among which the most important role has the European Court of Human Rights seated in Strasbourg. If the European Convention for the. Protection of Human Rights is the. European Union's instrument of reference, than the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina first of all must harmonize, its Constitution mid the entire legal system with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights as soon as possible. At the same time, in order to realize successfid economic, democratic, cultural and any other social prosperity typical for modern European states, Bosnia and Herzegovina needs to make use of all opportunities (which certainly are not small) that membership in the Council of Europe offers to it. Only then, shall Bosnia and Herzegovina fully and naturally find itself in the membership of the European Union.