Press releases

TI BiH: The Ministry of Justice is hiding the Draft Law on the Court of BiH

Press releases ● 04 April 2024

Sarajevo, April 4th, 2024: The Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina refused to publish the Draft Law on the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and thus continued to hide from the public one of the most important reform laws in the EU integration process. Transparency International in BiH requested submission of the Draft, which was removed from the agenda of the Council of Ministers of BiH several times, but the relevant Ministry refused the request, referring to one of a number of restrictions from the new Law on Freedom of Access to Information. This law was presented as one of the great successes that BiH made on the European path, although numerous civil society organizations warned that it would enable the authorities to additionally hide information of public importance, which was shown in this example.

In this case, the Ministry of Justice referred to a provision of the new Law that allows institutions to limit access to information if its publication “could seriously disrupt the process of its creation”. The Ministry, however, did not explain why the publication of the content could damage the process of passing such an important law, for which there is great public interest.

TI BiH believes that the Ministry should, after determining the draft, publish this law and invite the interested public to submit written proposals and comments. Namely, the original draft of the Law on the Courts of BiH was published on the e-consultation platform in 2022, but after that it was revised as part of the working group and coalition agreements, and it was changed, placed and removed from the agenda of the Council of Ministers on several occasions, and in the meantime, the name and scope of the law being adopted have been changed. At the same time, there are numerous controversies regarding its content and provisions that are subject of public scrutiny and interest.

Instead of involving the public in the consultation process and enabling a public debate on such an important issue, the Draft Law is hidden from the citizens, without adequate explanation and a public interest test, while key decisions are made at closed meetings of political coalition members. TI BiH previously warned against the harmful practice of the Council of Ministers of BiH to hide the content of the most important laws, only to fundamentally change it at the session itself, enabling the public insight only when these laws are already referred to the parliamentary procedure.

Ultimately the public is deprived of any information related to the legislation process itself, as well as the content of this important regulation, which not only indicates a lack of transparency, but also affects the quality of the solutions that are adopted as well as public trust.

TI BiH previously urged all governments and parliaments in BiH to publish session materials, including draft laws, in order to enable the constructive participation of civil society and other interested actors in the adoption of policies.

THE AUTHORITARIAN REGIME IN RS IS ON A DANGEROUS ROAD – THE CONTINUATION OF THE LEGALIZATION OF REPRESSION

News ● 01 April 2024

Banja Luka, April 1, 2024 – The Government of the Republika Srpska established in complete secrecy the Proposal for the Law on the Special Register and Publicity of the Work of Non-Profit Organizations and referred it for further adoption in the NSRS, once again violating the legislative rules and procedures. Namely, this information was confirmed to the media only after an inquiry, and conflicting information was communicated about the session at which the Proposal was allegedly determined.

In the end, the Government announced to the media that it was decision was made at the session held on March 21, 2024, right before the expiration of the 6-month deadline that the Government had to submit this law in the form of a proposal. However, in the announced agenda of said session the adoption of this Proposal is not mentioned, neither it is mentioned in the published information of the Government after the session ended, which casts doubt on the very method of determining the Proposal.

Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as all relevant international and domestic organizations, previously warned about the harm and consequences of the adoption of this Law, which directly targets associations that are financed from abroad, that is, those that are not under the control of local authorities and limits their field of action. Nevertheless, the Government of the RS completely ignored all warnings, and the Law, which drastically encroaches on basic human rights, is sent to the procedure only a few days after the European Union gave its consent to the opening of negotiations for BiH, emphasizing the freedom of action of civil society as one of the key priorities that BiH must fulfill in order to officially start negotiations with the EU. At the same time, NSRS hypocritically adopted formal conclusions that are calling for the “acceleration of the European path”, adopting laws that are in complete contradiction to that same European path at the same time.

TI BiH notes that the text of the Proposal itself is not yet available to the public, as well as the official record from the session where it was allegedly determined. With this, the authorities in the RS continue the trend of establishing complete control over freedom of speech and the activities of civil society, moving in the direction of stifling any form of criticism, proposing, and adopting legal solutions without any regard for public reactions, through fake procedures of public hearings and passing laws.

TI BiH calls on the representatives in the NSRS to use the last chance and reject this proposal by voting against the law, which is not only the result of problematic procedures and endangers the proclaimed “European path”, but, most importantly, directly violates the basic human rights and freedoms of citizens in the Republic of Srpska, which the regime in the RS continues to side itself among sinister repressive and authoritarian regimes that openly persecute dissenters.

Over 1,300 witnesses and victims of corruption requested legal assistance from TI BIH, most complaints against the state administration and judiciary

Press releases ● 26 March 2024

Banja Luka, March 26, 2024 – During the past year, Transparency International’s Legal Aid Center in Bosnia and Herzegovina received 1,337 calls from citizens and handled 317 cases related to specific cases of corruption. Among the reporting structure, there were mostly witnesses (42.2%) and victims of corruption (28.3%), followed by public sector employees or so-called whistleblowers (12.6%) who reported corruption in the workplace. The number of whistleblowers (a total of 40 in 2023) who turn to TI BiH is again far, far greater than the number of persons who receive the status of protected corruption whistleblowers from the competent institutions, which clearly shows that citizens still do not have enough trust in the system.

As in previous years, the largest number of cases was relating to the state administration sector (135), where citizens reported the most irregularities in the field of employment. In one of the cases, the Institution of the Ombudsman for the Protection of Human Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina made a recommendation to the Railways of the Republic of Srpska and the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the RS to remove discriminatory treatment during employment in this public company. Also, acting on the TI BIH repoert, the Public Procurement Agency of BiH submitted a request for the initiation of misdemeanor proceedings to the misdemeanor department of the competent Municipal Court in Sarajevo against “Lutrije BiH” because this contracting authority in the procurement of advertising on web portals referred to precisely specified portals, among which there are even some without advertising space.

Last year, there is also a case in which, after the action of TI BiH, the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Policy determined that the competent service of the Zenica-Doboj Canton is obliged to pay one-time assistance to 3,043 unemployed persons who were initially denied this assistance.

After public administration, the largest number of proceedings of TI BiH was recorded in the field of justice (38), and in one of the most significant cases, TI BiH filed a disciplinary report against the Chief Prosecutor of BiH Milanko Kajganić, who assigned most of the cases outside the TCMS automatic management system, which is why his predecessor in this position, Gordana Tadić, was dismissed. Last year, TI BiH initiated 30 cases related to conflict of interest before the competent institutions, and after the State Commission was recently unblocked, the first sanctions were imposed against the director of the Communications Regulatory Agency of BiH, Draško Milinović, while proceedings were initiated against State Minister Sevlid Hurtić and the new director of BH Telekom, Amel Kovačević.

2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the Center for Providing Legal Aid in the fight against corruption, which stood by numerous citizens whose rights were threatened, or who witnessed corrupt acts. It is important to point out that the trends have changed and that in previous years, reports were mainly related to doctors and police officers receiving bribes. Now, citizens report more abuse of official positions by holders of judicial functions, as well as violations of the law by police authorities, which is particularly controversial because these are institutions that should have a leading role in the fight against corruption.

In the coming period, TI BiH will continue to provide legal assistance to citizens who are facing corruption, who can contact us anonymously via the free number 0800 55555 and the online platform prijavikorupciju.org. TI BiH especially invites whistleblowers, or persons who report corruption from their immediate work environment, to contact us in case they need legal support.

Initiative for monitoring EU integration: It is time for a fundamental step forward in reforms on the way to BiH’s membership in the EU

Press releases ● 22 March 2024

The initiative for monitoring EU integration, as the only coalition of non-governmental organizations that monitors the process of negotiations and accession to the EU, welcomes the decision to open negotiations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union. After the formal opening of negotiations, it is time for BiH institutions to return to serious work on fulfilling the necessary conditions referred to by the European Council. This is only the first step in the long process of approaching EU standards, and it is necessary to engage all the available capacities this country has. In order for Bosnia and Herzegovina to make real progress in this sense, it is necessary to implement all the foreseen steps and approach the participatory process of integration into the EU community.

The annual reports of this Initiative, as well as several domestic and international analyses, showed that the BiH authorities did not systematically approach the fulfillment of the conditions, and that some of the reform laws represented only “cosmetic changes”, and were most often adopted in urgent procedures – without the opportunity for serious involvement of civil society and professional public. The country continues to face the following challenges:

1. Lack of progress in the implementation of reforms: despite the decision to open negotiations, we are still, as a society, faced with minimal progress in the implementation of key reforms required for membership. Bosnia and Herzegovina still has to adopt a series of reforms, including the Law on Courts, creating conditions for the functioning of the coordination mechanism, and preparing and adopting a program for the application of the EU acquis;
2. Strong international pressure and geopolitical circumstances as a basis for bringing the country closer to full integration with the EU: the members of the Initiative require the decision-makers to communicate more clearly about the significance of the geopolitical circumstances that arose after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the impact of these changes on European soil on the opening of negotiations with BiH. Also, the influence of international mediators, as well as the presence of the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina, played a primary role in the adoption of part of the reforms and the decision to open negotiations;
3. The process of adopting laws and making decisions, which were key to the opening of negotiations, were characterized by a lack of transparency through the implementation of urgent procedures for adopting laws without adequate consultations with the civil sector and the public: we expect that the processes will be more transparent and that through the process of European integration citizens’ trust in the institutions of our country will be restored.

Taking into account the aforementioned challenges, the decision to open negotiations represents an opportunity to return the process of adoption of reforms to the institutions, while giving a more significant role to experts and civil society, with the aim of ensuring the best benefits for the citizens of BiH.

The European integration monitoring initiative calls on decision-makers to take responsibility for the implementation of reforms and ensure the inclusion of civil society and citizens in decision-making processes. Also, the members of the Initiative remind the decision-makers that only after the adoption and implementation of the reforms will follow the screening process (analysis of compliance of the legislation of the candidate country with European regulations), which will give Bosnia and Herzegovina a clear picture of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s perspective and the country’s approach to the European Union.

The initiative for monitoring European integration will continue to monitor the next steps and will insist on the quality of legal solutions that will create a democratic and functional system.

The Law on the Prevention of Conflict of Interest is important for the prevention of corruption, the adoption procedure is not transparent

Press releases ● 08 March 2024

Banja Luka, March 8, 2024 – Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) welcomes the adoption of the new Law on Prevention of Conflicts of Interest in BiH, which represents an important mechanism for the prevention of corruption. The adoption of this law as well as other anti-corruption reforms have been obstructed by the ruling structure for years, and during that time BiH became the second worst ranked country in Europe in terms of corruption.

The law brings numerous qualitative improvements, such as the establishment of an independent Commission that will replace the current political way of making decisions on conflicts of interest, as well as the establishment of a public register of state officials’ assets.

At the same time, TI BiH warns that important provisions of this law were changed at the last minute, which explicitly stipulated the obligation of all institutions in BiH to submit data on assets to the Commission for deciding on conflicts of interest, which is necessary to control the accuracy of the information provided by officials in the asset registers. Instead, the adopted version tentatively emphasizes that the institutions will cooperate, which again leaves room for possible obstructions of this mechanism for controlling the assets of public officials. In the same way, the Council of Ministers recently weakened the amendments to the Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, which is why representatives of relevant international organizations, including the EU, reacted.

Also, the method of decision-making in the Commission on the dismissal of officials, which foresees the consensus of all members, i.e. a two-thirds majority, in practice can lead to the fact that sanctions that foresee dismissal or resignation are not pronounced at all. This is not equivalent to the way decisions are made by other institutions at the state level. The law mostly maintains the existing restrictions regarding the performance of multiple functions and the financing of private enterprises run by public officials and their family members. The threshold of allowed income from the budget for citizens’ associations led by officials has been increased from the current ten to twenty thousand, that is, from 50,000 to 70,000 for sports associations.

TI BiH considers completely unacceptable that laws, especially those of great importance for the prevention of corruption, but also for the further progress of BiH in the process of EU integration, are passed in complete contradiction to the regulations for the adoption of laws. It should be pointed out that the whole process went beyond basic international standards such as conducting consultations, making an assessment of the impact of regulations and basic transparency of the process through extra-institutional arrangements, which is inherent in authoritarian regimes, and certainly not to a country that needs to start negotiations on joining the European Union.

TI BiH warns: Procedures violated in the awarding of concession for the exploitation of underground water in Livno, the City Council should withdraw its consent

Press releases ● 27 February 2024

The Government of Canton 10 granted the Concession for the exploitation of underground water at the location “Poljane” without proper public hearing and necessary permits, and on that occasion numerous procedures were violated, warns Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH). That is why the Livno City Council should withdraw the conditional consent it gave for this concession, because the concessionaire “Dže-Co” d.o.o. Livno did not fulfill most of the conditions that were set back in 2010.

According to the available information and the Report of the working body of the Government of Canton 10 on this issue, public hearings were not conducted or were not conducted in accordance with the law, the previous water consent has expired, and other water acts have not been obtained, no environmental permits have been issued, no reports on the results of geological and hydrogeological research, and the approvals for expanding the area are full of objections and shortcomings.

In addition to the aforementioned concession, no fee is paid, and this awarding procedure was marked by other irregularities. In addition to all of the above, the Commission for Concessions stated that the possible threat to the water supply of the local population should be taken into account, while TI BiH received numerous reports from citizens in this area who pointed out the dangers to the environment and stated that all decisions were made without public consultation, discussion and participation.

Bearing in mind all of the above, especially the reports and decisions of the competent authorities, dissatisfaction of the residents of the local community Vidoši and other citizens of Livno, TI BiH appeals to the City Council of Livno to consider the conditional consent it gave for granting the concession, and if it is determined that the conditions have not been met, to declare the termination of validity of this consent.

Training for Journalists and Activists: Protection from Repressive Measures – Rights and Safety of Journalists and Activists

Announcements ● 14 February 2024

Transparency International in BiH (TIBiH) on Thursday, February 15, 2024, Banja Luka – organizes a one-day training dedicated to improving the rights and safety of journalists and activists in the context of new legal solutions and their impact on the media and civil society in BiH. The training will be held at Jelena Hotel and will cover the topics of reporting standards, ethical principles, prevention and actions in the light of new provisions of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Srpska, as well as protection mechanisms in the criminal process.

The lecturers are distinguished experts and lawyers, who will provide advice and guidelines for safer work of journalists and activists through practical examples and workshops.

Organizing training for journalists and activists in Banja Luka is a response to the increasing challenges and dangers they face in their work. In the context of increasingly restrictive legal solutions and an increase in repressive measures, this gathering aims to empower media workers and human rights activists by providing concrete tools and knowledge in protecting their rights.

With topics such as ethical reporting, prevention of illegal actions, and protection mechanisms in the criminal process, the goal is to raise awareness on importance of freedom of expression and information, as well as create a safer environment for journalists and activists.

The agenda is attached

During the training, presentation of the new handbook for journalists, “Protection of the Rights of Journalists and Activists After the Recriminalization of Defamation”, providing key guidelines for protection of journalists and activists in the light of new legal challenges, is also planned. The manual includes topics such as prevention, basic concepts of criminal procedure, and strategies for protecting the rights of journalists and activists. It is available for download at the link.

Further training is planned in

Trebinje – March 14, 2024
Bijeljina – March 21, 2024
Bihac – March 26, 2024

We invite you to apply via e-mail dkolundzija@tibih.org or phone number 066/912-126, contact person Danijela Kolundzija.

Message from the Conference “BiH 2024: Risks of Dysfunctionality”: Corruption is a Fundamental Threat to Peace and Security

Press releases ● 06 February 2024

“Almost 90% of employment positions in the public sector of BiH are distributed through clientelistic criteria, spending on public procurement in election years increases up to 40%, and all the resources of society are used to protect the levers of power of the ruling elites”. This is stated in the analysis “BiH: A Captive State and a Captive Society” that Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) presented today in Sarajevo at the conference entitled “BiH 2024: Risks of Dysfunctionality”.

The analysis states that our country is a textbook example of the “captive state” phenomenon in which narrow interest groups take effective control over key institutions and processes. Presenting the analysis, the chairman of the board of directors of TI BiH, Srđan Blagovčanin, emphasized that even after receiving candidate status, BiH is still going through multiple crises, political, institutional and the crisis of the legitimacy of the governing structures.

– The deep structural causes of this situation can be found in the capture of the state and society by the ethno-political elites, who subordinated the overall functioning of the country to the realization of their own particular interests. Negative trends in the form of strengthening of authoritarian tendencies, deterioration of the rule of law and corruption are only the consequence of such a situation. What should also be emphasized is that such a situation carries important risks that can lead to the escalation of the crisis and endangering the basic functions of the state, said Blagovčanin.

These problems can have serious consequences, considering that numerous analyzes show a specific connection between the factors that influence corruption and the risks of conflict escalation. The joint report of the United Nations and the World Bank identifies the management system as a key dimension through which the preventive effects of conflict are achieved, which is certainly important to mention in the context of BiH, which has already experienced the tragic consequences of armed conflict.

– Corruption represents a fundamental threat to peace and security in Bosnia and Herzegovina due to its role in encouraging division between different groups and undermining the rule of law. This will require the fight against corruption, the defense of media freedom and human rights, the empowerment of women and girls, and opposition to secessionist rhetoric and actions that seek to undermine the institutions of BiH and are contrary to the stability, security and territorial integrity of BiH, Canadian Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Neelu Shanker said during the conference.

The conference, organized by TI BiH with the support of the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, brought together representatives of political parties, the academic community, civil society, domestic and international institutions, with the aim of opening a dialogue on the possibilities of overcoming the current political crisis and solutions that can contribute to the revitalization of key reform processes in the country.

BiH is the second worst ranked country in Europe in terms of corruption: The key problem is a dysfunctional judiciary and attacks on civil liberties

Press releases ● 30 January 2024

Sarajevo, January 30, 2024 – Bosnia and Herzegovina ranks worst in the region according to Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of this year, published by Transparency International (TI), and became the second worst positioned country in Europe when it comes to the state of corruption. Only Russia has a worse result, which this year has a score of 35, on a scale from 0 (worst) to 100 (best result). Although BiH received one point more than last year, it is falling behind in comparison to all previous years, and this result still keeps BiH at the bottom when it comes to the region and in 108 place in the world, out of 180 countries.

The focus of the CPI global research this year is on the justice sector, and as the key reason for this state of affairs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, TI in the report cites the dysfunctional rule of law, pervasive corruption in conditions of general democratic decline and attacks on media freedom and civil society, which monitor the work of the government and play an important role in detecting and suppressing corruption. The authorities in the Republic of Srpska are most “deserving” of the latter, intensifying efforts to silence critics through the criminalization of defamation and a series of laws that seek to suppress media freedom and the activities of civil society organizations. In addition, it is added that the RS Immunity Law, if adopted, will be an additional blow to the already weakened rule of law, as it will make it impossible to prosecute high-ranking officials for corruption, who are almost never prosecuted due to the catastrophic state of the judiciary throughout BiH.

The regional report states that the judicial systems of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia are mostly incapable of prosecuting and sanctioning public officials who abuse their position, and this is confirmed by the data published by TI BiH every year, where we have disastrous results when it comes to the number of indictments and convictions for high corruption. Last year, we also had a series of acquittals against high-ranking officials for major corruption cases such as Bobar Banka and Energolinija, where in the end no one was held accountable for multimillion-dollar damage to the public interest. Also, a series of scandals in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s judiciary and investigations against the holders of the most important judicial functions have further undermined the public’s trust, which was also confirmed by research conducted by TI BIH, where over 40% of citizens see corruption mostly in the judiciary, which plays a key role in the fight against corruption. The reform of judiciary, which has been insisted on for a long time, has been completely blocked by key political parties, and the recent changes to the HJPC Law have not yet ensured the integrity of judges and prosecutors, as this institution has acknowledged the existence of problems when implementing new authorizations related to checking property records.

– Instead of strengthening the independence and efficiency of prosecution offices and courts, we have systematic efforts to collapse key institutions, prosecutions based on political directives and interests, while informal interest networks within the judiciary are responsible and accountable to politics and organized crime, not to citizens, said Ivana Korajlić , executive director of TI BiH.

We have seen a similar approach of the Bosnian authorities in other anti-corruption reforms, where numerous reform laws were meaningless and adopted only for the sake of the appearance of reforms, and the adoption of key laws necessary for a more effective fight against corruption is still awaited, such as the law on conflicts of interest, protection of corruption whistleblowers in Federation of BiH, and new laws on public procurement and HJPC. Also, reforms of public administration, public companies and the most important electoral reform were missing, where again we have attempts by the authorities to make technical changes to the Electoral Law meaningless and leave room for stealing votes, trading election boards and misuse of public resources.

This is why BiH is mentioned in this year’s CPI assessment for the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia among the countries that have been experiencing decline for years, together with Turkey, Tajikistan, Serbia and Russia, which recorded the worst result so far. On the other hand, some countries from this region have made significant progress in the fight against corruption in the last ten years, and among them are Moldova, Ukraine, North Macedonia and Kosovo.

TI BiH sent comments on changes to the Law on Civil Service: This solution will not ensure depoliticization and restore citizens’ trust

Press releases ● 29 January 2024

Banjaluka, January 29, 2024 – Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) sent a letter to the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina together with comments on the proposed changes to the Law on Civil Service in the Institutions of BiH, which has numerous shortcomings, although the goals of these changes should have been depoliticization and reorganization of the civil service within the framework of fulfilling one of the 14th priorities from the opinion of the European Union.

If the proposed changes are adopted, advisers to the members of the Presidency, the chairman, ministers in the Council of Ministers, the governor and vice-governor of the Central Bank will be persons without a required university degree and citizenship of BiH, and persons who have obtained the legal conditions for pension will also be able to do these jobs. Civil servants already working in institutions will not be obliged to do a trial period in the event of a workplace change , and will be evaluated only once a year, which is a “backward step” in relation to the current law.

In addition, the proposed changes do not address the issue of employment and selection of civil servants at all, and the opportunity to improve merit in employment is missed, as it is not ensured that the appointment of civil servants is made on the basis of the results of a public competition, with the obligation to appoint the most successful candidate to the position civil servant. TI BiH receives daily reports from citizens who point out irregularities related to the conduct of public competitions and has been pointing out for years that the institute of public competition is meaningless, at all levels of government, because there is no obligation to select the civil servant who achieved the highest number of points in the selection process. In addition, the changes do not address the key issues of the responsibility of civil servants, and the rationalization and efficiency of work.

It should also be emphasized that the condition that no criminal proceedings are being conducted against the candidate and that he or she has not been convicted of a criminal offense should be presented as a general condition, precisely because of numerous examples of employment of convicted persons, as well as cases of corruption involving civil servants.

Although the proposed changes imply the establishment of a register of employees in BiH institutions, which has been awaited for years and should introduce greater transparency in this segment, it is important to draw attention to the fact that the recommendations of the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data have not been followed and if the proposed provision is adopted, it will not be in accordance with the General Regulation on the Protection of Personal Data, as the Agency warned the law’s proponent twice.

TI BiH recently published a survey showing that as many as 68.8% of BiH citizens do not trust the work of employees in the public administration, and almost four fifths of respondents (78.6%) believe that jobs in this sector are obtained “through connections”. That is why TI BiH believes that the adoption of amendments to the Law on the Civil Service of BiH, as well as other reforms at all levels, must ensure depoliticization and professionalization of public administration, which is the first step towards restoring citizens’ trust in institutions.

TI BiH: opens up additional space for impunity for high-level corruption

Press releases ● 21 December 2023

Banja Luka, December 21, 2023 – Transparency International in BiH (TI BIH) warns that the Draft Law on Immunity of the Republic of Srpska, to be considered by the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska, opens a huge space for crime and impunity of criminal acts of corruption committed by the highest officials.

Such a law would amnesty the holders of the most responsible executive functions of criminal prosecution for any acts they commit “within their jurisdiction”, which is contrary to all international standards, and the reason why TI BiH sent comments on this law and requested its withdrawal from further proceedings.

It should be reminded that this law, apart from MPs, also grants immunity to the holders of executive functions – the President and Vice-Presidents of the Republic of Srpska and members of the Government – which would lead to the loss of the essence of the immunity itself, since the general tendency is to narrow the scope of immunity. Particularly problematic is the retroactive application of the law, which is provided by the Constitution of the Republic of Srpska only as an exception, if the general interest is determined.

TI BiH reminds that the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) foresees the establishment of balance between the immunity given to the highest officials and their responsibility for possible criminal acts. A similar view is shared by the Venice Commission, which in its “Report on the Scope and Denial of Parliamentary Immunity” believes that this form of immunity is an old and traditional institution, not applicable in functional democracies, the misuse of which necessarily leads to violations of the law and obstruction of justice, undermining democratic capacity and trust in institutions.

Along with the comments on the draft, TI BiH warned the MPs about the potential harmful consequences for legal certainty and the rule of law, as well as the inconsistency of such a legal solution with international standards and called for such a legal solution to be withdrawn from the further procedure.

Initiative for changes to the law: Proposals for more transparent financing of political parties presented

Press releases ● 13 December 2023

Sarajevo, December 13, 2023 – Establishment of clear competences of the Central Election Commission of BiH (CEC BiH) for the supervision of party expenses, the obligation to use unique bank accounts, the prohibition of receiving donations in cash with the obligation to pay donations to the party’s bank account, the expansion of prohibited sources of financing and the increase in sanctions are some of the proposals for increasing the transparency of political financing contained in the initiative to amend the law on political financing in BiH.

Proposals for amendments to the Law on Political Parties Financing were presented at the conference “Integrity of Political Financing in the Region” organized by Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) in cooperation with the Central Election Commission of BiH in Sarajevo and contain recommendations from relevant international institutions such as GRECO, OSCE/ODIHR and EU as well as international standards for increasing the transparency and integrity of political funding.

The initiative contains proposals made by the Central Election Commission of BiH on the basis of continuous campaign monitoring and analysis of the political parties financing carried out by the TI BiH during several election cycles, indicating a large number of abuses and inadequate control mechanisms, as well as mild sanctions for political entities that violate laws.

TI BiH also highlighted additional changes that must be included, primarily relating to reporting on the financing and costs of independent campaigns of party candidates, financing by “third parties”, i.e. running campaigns through intermediaries and preventing misuse of public resources for the purpose of financing campaigns.

The conference, organized as part of USAID’s support to citizens in the fight against corruption, was opened by the US ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, H.E. Michael Murphy stating that the campaign financing system in Bosnia and Herzegovina is marked by corruption because it was designed by politicians who try to stay in power at all costs.

“Bosnia and Herzegovina’s campaign finance system requires urgent, fundamental reforms as part of a broader effort to restore people’s faith in the country’s democratic institutions, especially as voters prepare to elect their local governments next fall,” Ambassador Murphy said in a message welcoming the recommendations for legislative reforms that TI BiH and CEC presented today.

President of the CEC BiH, Suad Arnautović, particularly emphasized the need for harmonization of regulations in the field of political parties financing and election campaigns, given that existing regulations at all levels of government regulate the distribution of budget funds and campaign financing differently.

Ivana Korajlić from TI BiH emphasized that the parties have a huge space for non-transparent financing and that they receive and spend much more for campaigns than reported, which was shown by TI BiH monitoring, showing a difference of 1.7 million BAM in reported expenses, in relation to what is real, as well as that out of 170 companies that donated funds to political entities in 2022, 70 of them won public procurement contracts in that year.

“We have no insight into the individual expenses of the parties, we don’t know who they pay and how much, which makes it difficult to monitor the actual costs of the campaign. 20 million BAM are allocated annually for financing parties from the budgets of all levels of government, without adequate mechanisms for auditing expenses,” Korajlić said, adding that the issue of political parties financing remained outside of the government’s priorities, and expressing the hope that this issue will come into the focus of decision-makers in order to prevent the misuse of public resources for campaign financing.

Representatives of competent institutions of the countries of the region also participated in the conference, presenting the best practices and procedures for preventing the misuse of public resources during the election process, as well as the supervision of the financing of political campaigns.

Corruption among the most important problems of BH citizens, national issues almost insignificant

News ● 11 December 2023

Sarajevo, December 11, 2023 – Corruption represents one of the three most important problems for a third of the citizens of BiH, while national issues are among the least important topics, prioritized by only about 5% of the BiH citizens, according to public opinion surveys on the perception of corruption that was presented by Transparency International in BiH (TI BH) at the conference marking the International Anti-Corruption Day, held today in Sarajevo.

The findings of the latest public opinion survey on corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina [1] showed that 37.2% of citizens see low wages as a problem, while among the three most important issues that citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina face on a daily basis are emigration (34.6%) and corruption (34.2%). On the other hand, national issues represent one of the least important topics to which only 5.2% of respondents attach importance, and together with public administration (2.0%) and other issues (4%), these problems are less important for BiH citizens.

“Corruption is one of the biggest obstacles to the development of this country, it reduces trust in institutions, lowers the quality of public services and deters foreign investments,” said Sara Lindegren, the deputy ambassador of Sweden at the opening of the conference.

The research results presented at the conference “Between Perception and Institutional Response: Facing Corruption Through Laws and Practice” supported by Sweden show that almost 10% of citizens support corruption in some form and citizens notice the most corruption in healthcare (53.9%) , police (43.1%) and judiciary (40.7%), while almost a third, i.e. 30.7% of the citizens of BiH believe that corruption is most prevalent in political parties, and 80 percent of those surveyed believe that the institutions that should fight against corruption are ineffective, which is also reflected in their willingness to report the corruption.

“The data clearly show that citizens believe the authorities and institutions have not done anything to improve the situation when it comes to corruption, which is also visible from the data on the level of efficiency and trust in institutions,” said Ivana Korajlić, director of Transparency International in BiH, commenting the results of the research, adding that “citizens believe that it is not worth getting involved in the fight and reporting corruption because nothing will happen based on their reports – citizens have simply come to terms with the fact that decisions are made in a way that is in the interest of individuals or groups close to the government” concluded Korajlić.

The research shows that the perception of corruption in the eyes of citizens is on the rise, so 63% of respondents stated that the level of corruption in BiH is very high, which is an increase compared to 2019, when 61% of respondents had this opinion, which confirmed the findings of many studies that follow the level of corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina, such as the TI Index of Corruption Perception – CPI, according to which it is at a record level in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is constantly growing.

Halil Lagumdžija, president of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, assessed that “corruption is a scourge that has become a model of behavior in BiH society”, adding that, as the first member of the HJPC, he believes that the judiciary has not given the right answer in the fight against corruption “Prosecutors point out that a relatively small number of proceedings have been initiated by competent police agencies, it is more based on reports from citizens or press reports,” Lagumdžija concluded.

“The main characteristics of high corruption and organized crime are organization, coordination and efficiency,” said Erduan Kafedžić, head of the Office for Anti-Corruption and Quality Control of the Sarajevo Canton, adding that these qualities are not present in the institutional system that should monitor and fight against it.

The conference also discussed the challenges that accompany the process of improving the fight against corruption in BiH, where the legal framework, i.e. its inadequacy, was identified as the main problem in this area. This primarily refers to changes to the Law on the HJPC, which do not allow full transparency and accountability of institutions and holders of judicial functions, while the application of such a bad law is impossible because the department for checking the property records of judges and prosecutors has not yet been established.

[1] Research conducted on a sample of 1,220 respondents in the entire territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina

TI BiH presented research: Most citizens see corruption in public administration, 20 years later, reforms still at the very beginning

Press releases ● 30 November 2023

Sarajevo, November 30, 2023 – As many as 68.8% of BiH citizens do not trust the work of employees in the public administration, and most of them (82.9%) believe that money from the budget is not spent in the right way. The lack of trust was also affected by the fact that more and more citizens see corruption in public administration, where almost four fifths of the respondents (78.6%) believe that public employees got a job in this sector “through connections”. These are the data from the survey of public opinion throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, which Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) presented today at the conference entitled “Two Decades of Public Administration Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina – (Un)learned Lessons”.

After 20 years of work on reforms, according to the latest report of the European Commission, Bosnia and Herzegovina is still in the early or initial phase, and the key reason is the lack of political will, which was also shown by the data on the effectiveness of implementation of measures. Work by experts in the field of public administration reform was also presented at the conference, and research revealed that Bosnia and Herzegovina is the worst in the region in this regard. Only 14% of the planned activities from the Action Plan were fulfilled, and there was no progress in terms of human resources management, transparency and accountability, and the rationalization of public administration. On the other hand, the perception of citizens shows that the expected improvement of public services has also been absent.

“We have to admit that we are still far from our goals, which should be focused on the needs of citizens and harmonization with European standards. The quality of public services is at an absurdly low level, the digitization process is at the very beginning, while a high level of corruption affects the trust of citizens,” said Srđan Blagovčanin, chairman of the TI BiH Board of Directors.

This reform is one of the key reforms for the continuation of the European integration process, as announced today by the representatives of the EU and Sweden.

“Public administration reform is crucial for any modern society, it is closely related to the rule of law and is the key factor to the EU accession process. When this process started, significant steps were taken, but this process has stalled in recent years”, said the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Helena Lagerlöf.

“This is a topic that greatly affects the lives of citizens. This is one of the 14 remaining key priorities and the EU has so far helped BiH with over 200 projects in this area. A lot has been done, but there is still a lot of work in order for BiH to have a public administration that is professional,” said the Deputy Head of the EU Delegation, Adebayo Babajide.

Dragan Ćuzulan, the coordinator for the public administration reform of BiH, pointed out that BiH has important political decisions to make if this process is to be accelerated.

“The European Commission is very rigorous when it comes to public administration reform, but you can see that anti-European laws are still being passed here and there is no agreed and clear political commitment. We have done our part on the technical level, political decisions follow and that is crucial. We don’t have the luxury of waiting when it comes to EU requirements”, said Ćuzulan.

The conference, organized by TI BiH and the Public Administration Reform Coordinator’s Office  with the support of Sweden, was an opportunity for intensive discussions and exchange of experiences on key aspects of public administration reform.

TI BIH: The EU report showed no progress in fight against corruption, BiH did not even fulfill the eight conditions received with “candidate status”

Press releases ● 09 November 2023

Banja Luka, November 9, 2023 – The report of the European Commission showed that Bosnia and Herzegovina did not make any progress in the fight against corruption and the rule of law in the past year. Despite the recommendation for a “conditional green light for negotiations” which should encourage the authorities to finally approach the implementation of essential reforms and readiness of the EU to speed up the enlargement process, the report indicates that BiH authorities avoided passing key laws for the rule of law, a small number of “reform laws” were adopted in a version that is not satisfactory, and a series of attacks on civil liberties took place.

That is why the assessments of local officials stating that BiH has made great progress and is the only one in the region to have gone from candidate status to the opening of negotiations in 10 months, are absurd, because BiH did not even fulfill the eight conditions received with the candidate status granted by the EU in December last year.

Among the eight conditions, it was stated that Bosnia and Herzegovina will guarantee freedom of expression and the media, which cannot be considered a fulfilled condition having in mind the criminalization of defamation in the Republic of Srpska and the announcement of a series of restrictive laws intended to suppress freedom of expression. BiH was also asked to take decisive steps to strengthen the prevention and fight against corruption, where no progress has been recorded, which is clearly stated in the report. One of the conditions was the adoption of law on the prevention of conflicts of interest, which was not adopted at the level of BiH or Federation of BiH, and additional steps were taken backwards by the recent changes to this law in the Republic of Srpska. Also, the adoption of two comprehensive laws on judicial reform, namely the new Law on the HJPC and the Law on the Courts of BiH, which is also among the eight conditions for candidate status, was not adopted.

The report also states a number of objections to several “reform laws” that were recently adopted in the BiH Parliament and which the local authorities are presenting as a great success that led to a conditional recommendation for the opening of negotiations. Thus, it was stated that the recent amendments to the Law on the HJPC, with the aim of checking the property records of holders of judicial offices, were adopted in a changed version in relation to the opinion of the Venice Commission.

– Such changes hinder the effectiveness of the asset reporting system and therefore need to be supplemented, the report states.

It is also noted that the independence of the appeal process is not ensured by the new Law on Freedom of Access to Information, which civil society organizations have already warned about, because the adopted solution is worse in some segments and will additionally enable institutions to hide information of public interest from the public.

With this approach, it is difficult to expect more progress in the next four months, because this has not been achieved in the past four years, that is, since 2019, when the EU set 14 key priorities in its Opinion, of which BiH has fully fulfilled only one to date. Because of this, TI BiH once again appeals to the authorities at all levels to take advantage of the EU’s willingness to speed up the enlargement process and implement essential reforms that are primarily necessary to improve the situation in BiH itself in terms of the rule of law and fight against corruption.

Bosnia and Herzegovina should take advantage of new EU enlargement signals for key reforms towards democratization and the fight against corruption

Press releases ● 31 October 2023

Sarajevo, October 31, 2023 – Renewed EU interest in the enlargement process for the countries of the Western Balkans should serve as a motivation for accelerating essential reforms, primarily in the field of democratization and strengthening the rule of law, it was said at the “EU Integration Forum” conference, organized today by Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo.

Instead of the previous declarative decisions for integration, the leaders of the countries of the region should initiate a whole series of brave but necessary steps in order to achieve stronger legal, political, economic and developmental integration, it was said at the conference.

“It is time for expansion, but it is up to Bosnia and Herzegovina to take the necessary steps and initiate reforms towards further integration with the European Union,” said Adebayo Babajide, Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina at the opening of the conference.

During the panel discussions, the participants noted that BiH is experiencing constant deterioration in numerous areas such as the rule of law and corruption, which has become almost unpunishable due to the captivity of the judiciary and other institutions. At the same time, authoritarian trends are increasingly present in the country through laws that violate basic human rights and freedoms, which is most visible in Republic of Srpska, where defamation has been returned to the criminal code with announcements of even more rigorous laws that will suppress the work of the media, non-governmental organizations and individuals who are not under the control of the authorities.

All this indicates that BiH is in a state of institutional captivity and at the limit of basic functionality, which is why the ability to respond to the challenges of the negotiation process with the EU is called into question.

“The existing dysfunctional management structure in BiH will hardly be able to respond to the challenges of the negotiation process,” said Srđan Blagovčanin at the opening of the conference, adding that BiH has not yet adopted an integration program, which shows that the existing coordination mechanism is completely dysfunctional.

The conference also dealt with the issue of challenges facing the EU itself, which is going through the longest period since not a single new member was accepted and which, the participants agreed, is ripe for reforms in terms of the internal functioning, in order to create a sufficiently attractive space for political and economic integration of neighboring countries, such as the countries of the Western Balkans.

The conference, which was organized by Transparency International in BiH with the support of the Kingdom of Sweden, was attended by Adebayo Babajide, Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Birgitta Jansson, representative of the Swedish Embassy in BiH, Srđan Blagovčanin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TI BiH and regional experts from area of the rule of law, EU integration, representatives of domestic institutions and international organizations, civil society organizations, the academic community and the media.