FOURTH SECTION
CASE OF ŠĆEPANOVIĆ v. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
(Application no. 21196/21)
 
 
 
 
JUDGMENT
 
STRASBOURG
15 November 2022
 
 
 
 
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Šćepanović v. Bosnia and Herzegovina,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
 Tim Eicke, President,
 Faris Vehabović,
 Pere Pastor Vilanova, judges,
and Ludmila Milanova, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to:
the application (no. 21196/21) against Bosnia and Herzegovina lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on 13 April 2021 by a Montenegrin national, Mr Vasilije Šćepanović, born in 1986 and living in Herceg Novi, Montenegro, (“the applicant”) who was represented by Mr D. Barbarić, a lawyer practising in Mostar;
the decision to give notice of the complaint concerning the applicant’s deportation under Article 8 of the Convention to the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina (“the Government”), represented by their Acting Agent, Ms J. Cvijetić, and to declare inadmissible the remainder of the application;
the parties’ observations;
Having deliberated in private on 18 October 2022,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
1. The case concerns an allegation of arbitrary deportation to Montenegro. 2. The applicant moved from Montenegro to Bosnia and Herzegovina in late 2013. In 2015 he married a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina and had a child with her. In 2019 the relevant authorities issued an order withdrawing his residence permit, ordering his deportation and imposing a three-year ban on his re-entering Bosnia and Herzegovina on the ground that, according to information provided by the national intelligence agency, he posed a threat to national security. The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (“the State Court”) upheld that order in 2020. On 14 October 2020 the Constitutional Court found no violation of Article 8 of the Convention. In the meantime, on 16 May 2019, the applicant left the country. On 17 May 2022, after the expiry of the three-year ban, he tried to re-enter Bosnia and Herzegovina but was denied entry on the ground that he still posed a threat to national security. He did not appeal against that decision.

Outcome for Article 8: violation