Absurd: Persons convicted of crimes can be candidates on committees

Transparency International BiH recently made written comments on it. The organization notes that this law is trying to “push” some solutions that are detrimental to the public while on the other hand they do not deal with the issue of criteria for appointments, so in the country we have the absurdity that an ordinary professional associate must not be convicted and no criminal proceedings may be instituted against him, while a member of the management or supervisory board of a public enterprise may.

TI BiH said that as reasons for passing the Law on Amendments to the Law on Ministerial Appointments, Appointments of the Council of Ministers and other appointments of BiH, the legislator stated that they are intended to make this law more applicable in practice and suggested deleting some provisions that are unclear.

“Analyzing the Preliminary Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Ministerial Appointments, it is evident that the legislator, among other things, proposed deleting the provisions of the law relating to the competencies of the BiH Ombudsman Institution. The proposed deletion completely limits the powers of the BiH Ombudsman and eliminates the possibility that the ombudsman, if he finds that the appointment procedure was not conducted in accordance with the Law, recommends to the responsible public official to cancel the final appointment, “said Ivana Korajlic, spokeswoman for Transparency International BiH.

In addition, she says, it is proposed to completely delete the article of the law related to the implementation of the audit procedure for appointments, with the explanation that this article is of a temporal nature.

Finally, instead of the previous right of every interested member of the public to object and point out the violation of the principles of the Law, the Preliminary Draft proposes that only the interested party, if it considers that the law was violated in the appointment process, may file a lawsuit with the Court of BiH. that within 15 days from the day of the final appointment “, explains Korajlić.

The position of Transparency International BiH is that the Law on the Jurisdiction of the Institution of the Human Rights Ombudsman of BiH should not be deleted from the Law because the procedure before the Institution of the Ombudsman of BiH provides a double control mechanism, both by the competent body (if the proposed amendments are adopted), as well as by the Ombudsman as an independent institution dealing with the protection of the rights of natural and legal persons.

Regarding the provisions of the law related to the revision of appointments, Transparency International BiH believes that instead of deleting the entire article, it would be more practical to delete only the deadline provision, leaving the possibility to the authorized public servant to conduct the revision audit procedure to ensure quality.

Finally, Transparency International BiH insists that the violation of the law can be pointed out by any member of the public, not just the interested party as proposed in the preliminary draft, because otherwise the principles prescribed by law are violated, namely the principle of independent review and the principle of openness and transparency. .

CITIZENS ‘COMPLAINTS

Transparency International BiH, within the project Center for Free Legal Aid to Citizens, receives complaints from citizens related to the functioning / non-functioning of administrative bodies.

“When it comes to the application of the current Law on Ministerial Appointments, Appointments of the Council of Ministers and other appointments of BiH, the largest number of complaints from citizens relate to the vagueness of the appointment criteria prescribed by law. As a reminder, the current law sets as criteria for appointment that candidates are older than 18, that they have not been dismissed from civil service in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina or the Entities as a result of disciplinary measures in the period of three years before the vacancy. they are not covered by Article IX. 1. The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which refers to indictments before the Hague Tribunal and convictions of the tribunal “, says Korajlić and adds that the text of the law does not provide criteria that are provided by the law on civil service, and relate to non-conviction and non-criminal proceedings against candidates, so from a legal point of view we have a situation where persons who have been convicted of criminal offenses and against whom criminal proceedings are being conducted may appear as candidates.

“This is exactly what the citizens are most disappointed with and what they point out when they address Transparency International BiH,” the organization points out.

Transparency International BiH says that if the new law is adopted, no member of the public will be able to complain about the appointment of a certain candidate, as has been the case so far, but only those who fall under the “interested party” category will be able to express their dissatisfaction.

“If the proposal is adopted for the interested party to file a lawsuit with the Court of BiH instead of an objection. The deadline for filing a lawsuit with the Court of BiH of 15 days from the day of the final appointment is too short, so the question arises whether the interested party will be able to seek legal assistance in such a short time – possibly hiring a proxy and the like. By adopting provisions related to the exclusion of competencies of the BiH Ombudsman Institution, the Ombudsman abolishes the possibility that the Ombudsman, if he determines that the appointment procedure was not conducted in accordance with the Law, recommends a responsible civil servant to annul the final appointment, “said TI BiH.

Source: Buka.com