Strasbourg Court rejects Dodik's appeal against his conviction and dismissal

2026-06-16 18:39:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Strasbourg Court rejects Dodik's appeal against his conviction and

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has rejected as inadmissible Milorad Dodik's appeal against a decision by a Bosnian court, which last year sentenced him to prison and removed him from office as president of the Serbian entity Republika Srpska.

The court in Strasbourg confirmed to Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL) on Tuesday that the decision was made by a single judge in May.

Dodik complained in January to the Strasbourg court, claiming that his rights had been violated by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which in the summer of 2025 sentenced him to one year in prison and banned him from holding office for six years, for having ignored the decisions of the international representative in Bosnia.

In its response to the REL, the Strasbourg court did not provide detailed reasons for rejecting Dodik's appeal, but emphasized that the reasons are explained in the decision itself, which was issued in accordance with Rule 52A of the court.

Rule 52A allows a single judge to dismiss an application as inadmissible at the initial stage of the proceedings, without a detailed examination of the merits.

Such decisions are final, are made with a brief explanation, and there is no right of appeal against them.

The Court notes that the decision, together with the judge's reasoning, was served on the complainant or his legal representative, and explained to REL that there are several reasons why an appeal may be rejected, in accordance with the admissibility guidelines used by the Court.

The document clarifies that the Court rejects applications, among other things, if domestic remedies have not been exhausted, if they are submitted outside the specified time limit or if the Court considers them manifestly ill-founded.

Also, the Court will not examine a case if it does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Convention or if the applicant has not suffered significant damage.

This decision comes after this court had rejected a previous request from Dodik.

In April, Dodik had requested a temporary injunction to suspend the implementation of domestic court decisions in Bosnia against him.

The request was filed under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, which applies only in exceptional cases where there is an imminent risk of irreparable harm to fundamental rights.

Dodik stepped down as president of Bosnia's Serb entity, Republika Srpska, at the end of last year after his conviction was upheld by domestic judicial institutions./ Rel