Procedure for the adoption of the Law on Conflict of Interest trapped by political and personal interests

Although the Draft Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest in Governmental Institutions of BiH was submitted to the parliamentary procedure in October 2017, it has not been adopted yet, even on first reading.

Sarajevo, 17th April 2018– The Draft Law on Conflict of Interest in Governmental Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina was submitted to the parliamentary procedure for adoption in October 2017, as an initiative of eight representatives of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH. However, the Ministry of Justice of BiH has never submitted its opinion on the Draft Law, requested by the Constitutional Commission, although it has been prepared and removed from the Agenda of the Council of Ministers several times.

Namely, the Constitutional Commission of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH requested the opinion of the Ministry of Justice of BiH, the Central Election Commission  and the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption in December 2017. The Central Election Commission and the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption have submitted their opinions, but the opinion provided by the Ministry of Justice has not been considered by the Council of Ministers yet, nor has it been delivered to the Commission. The Constitutional Commission describes this as a reason why the Draft Law has not been voted on yet, and therefore made a decision at the last session, held on 16th April, to request from the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH to make the Council of Ministers provide its opinion, no later than 30 days, although the original deadline was not met which is why the House of Representatives extended it but with no time limit.

Transparency International in BiH believes that both, the legislators and the Council of Ministers, have demonstrated through such approach a lack of true will to improve this Law, and that even legislative procedures are used to avoid the adoption of the new Law that would, among other things, lead to the establishment of an independent body for law enforcement and property cards control.

TI BiH also reminds of the recent interruption of work of the Commission for Deciding on Conflict of Interest which could not have established a quorum and decided on conflict of interest in case of  Dragan Covic on two occasions so far, due to the inter-party arrangements. The work of this Commission will be interrupted in the future period as well, because of the fact that one of its members – former deputy director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption, Dragan Andjelic – no longer holds this position. These examples pointed out all weaknesses of the current Law on Conflict of Interest and the inability of the Commission, comprised of mainly MPs, to act efficiently and independently. However, instead of using this situation as additional motivation to urgently adopt new Law, its adoption is still obstructed, and the institutions are used as a cover for the protection of personal and political interests.

Therefore, TI BiH again appeals to the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH and the Council of Minister to remove the obstacles used as an excuse for failing to adopt new Law on Conflict of Interest, and thus show the willingness to improve their own accountability towards the citizens.