Improvement of the National Integrity System

The project entitled “Improvement of the National Integrity System”, which has been implemented by TI BiH during 2007 with the support of the Open Society Fund BiH, represents a continuation of work that started with the NIS Study project. The project is aimed at identifying, on the basis of surveys and studies as well as best practices from the developed countries, necessary corrections to the existing legal framework and improvements in the organisation, functioning and mutual cooperation of institutions in anticorruption combat, through a social integrity workshop programme. Reaching the widest possible consensus between the representatives of governmental institutions, civil society and expert public through joint work in social integrity workshops should enable the quality of the proposed solutions to contribute to the real progress in curbing corruption, and on the other hand, the involvement of a wider range of actors in the process should create broader support to and simpler implementation of anticorruption measures.

The workshop was aimed at identifying gaps in the current legislation and needs for corrections to the legislative framework and at possible adoption of new laws in accordance with the ratified international documents that are directly or indirectly related to corruption, such as criminal and criminal procedure codes, the Law on Conflict of Interest, Election Law, Law on Political Party Financing, Laws on Freedom of Access to Information, Law on Confiscation of Assets Acquired through Illegal Means, etc.

Based on the prepared analyses, recommendations for the improvement of the legislative framework and the functioning of the institutions were adopted at the workshop. The recommendations include the strengthening of corruption prevention, formation of an anticorruption agency, and changes to the Law on Conflict of Interest of BiH, of the Law on Political Party Financing, and of the Election Law of BiH. The recommendations also emphasise the need for adoption of a special law that would define the confiscation of gain acquired by illegal means in accordance with the best practices in developed countries.

In addition to specific recommendations, the workshop participants also came up with a conclusion that the Council of Ministers of BiH should make concrete steps towards speeding up and/or initiating key reforms that play a vital role in establishment of the rule of law and anticorruption combat such as public administration reform, police reform, continuation of the judicial reform, and development of the national strategy for promotion of foreign investment. These reforms may be carried out within the institutions as well as through an external systematic approach.

The recommendations were sent to all Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH and were specially presented to the Speaker of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, on which occasion he expressed his support to the implementation of these recommendations, which are in line with the international obligations of BiH stemming from the ratified international conventions and other documents and also in line with the strategic commitment of the authorities to combating organised crime and corruption.

The plan is to hold meetings and consultations with the representatives of the Council of Ministers following the first round of consultations with the management of the Parliamentary Assembly, since the Council of Ministers adopted the strategic framework for combating organised crime and corruption in 2006. So far, no concrete measures or activities provided for in the said framework have been taken, it remains unclear what institution should be responsible for coordination of the implementation, nor has an independent mechanism for monitoring the implementation been put in place.

Given that this has been the third attempt to establish such a strategy in BiH in the post-war period and that the two previous strategies ended in failure for lack of institutional accountability, quality cooperation as well as genuine political will, an irreversible loss of public trust in the leadership and their anticorruption vision seems to be an imminent danger. At the same time, prompt adoption, implementation and monitoring of the adequate strategic document would make it more difficult for politicians to engage in “shady dealings” through which the ruling elites continue to make illegal gains to the detriment of the public.

Documents

Recommendations for improving the legal framework and functioning of institutions