PRESS RELEASES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

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.

After the warning of TI BiH: Application of amendments to the Law on HJPC prevented, BiH judiciary blocked?

Press releases ● 25 October 2023

By adopting the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Law on Amendments to the Law on the HJPC, requesting the extension of the application of the Law after December 23, the members of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) showed that the earlier warnings, which Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH ) referred to the content but also the problematic procedure of amending such important laws, was well founded.

HJPC at the session held on October 18, acknowledged problems when applying the new powers regarding the verification of property records of judges and prosecutors, as well as that they would not be implemented by the date when the law was supposed to enter into force because, among other things, a special reporting department that should implement those activities was not established. This practically means that it is not possible to appoint new judges and prosecutors, leading to a blockade of the entire judiciary in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

With this, the earlier warnings of TI BiH pointing to the changes in the law while they were in the procedure, indicating the possibility of blocking the procedure of delivery and exchange of property records and potentially making the verification process itself meaningless, and that the proposed changes to the Law on the HJPC do not allow for complete transparency and responsibility of institutions and holders of judicial functions, came true.

Of particular concern is the issue of the conflict of interests of holders of judicial functions and members of the Council, which remains unresolved, with an unjustified reduction in the scope of relatives and related persons to whom it applies, while inadequate sanctions, the possibility of refusing to declare assets or the absence of the obligation to declare assets of close relatives, and the danger of selective access to checks, are only some of the problematic things that Transparency International pointed out in its comments.

TI BIH also warned that during the drafting of this law, numerous recommendations of the Venice Commission were ignored and that the ad hoc corrections that the Council of Ministers of BiH made to the draft law were criticized by numerous international organizations, including the Delegation of the European Union to BiH, while the transparency of the process itself, from which both the professional public and civil society organizations were excluded, was extremely damaged.

The last session of the HJPC, i.e. the proposal to extend the application of the Law due to the problems the proponent was warned about, and which were ignored, is proof that the BH judiciary is in complete institutional captivity, while, thanks to the actions of the Ministry of Justice and the Council of Ministers, Bosnia and Herzegovina found itself on the verge of complete legal uncertainty and a chaotic state.

The Law on the HJPC is one of the key reform laws, the adoption of which conditions fulfillment of 14 priorities that stand in the way of further integration of BiH to the EU, which is why TI BiH once again warns that inadequate or truncated legal solutions not only call into question the purpose of existence of the law, confirming the suspicions that the government’s intention is to present a semblance of progress on the European path, while avoiding the implementation of essential reforms necessary for the establishment of a minimum of responsibility and the rule of law in BiH.

Transparency International calls on the HJPC, the Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as all relevant actors to take, without delay, all measures and actions to establish the necessary institutional and legal mechanisms, and ensure appropriate resources, in order to facilitate the process of appointing judges and prosecutors, that is, to prevent the blockade of BH judiciary.

TI BiH reported the new director of BH Telecom due to conflict of interest

Press releases ● 12 October 2023

Banja Luka, October 12, 2023 – Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina sent a report to the BiH Conflict of Interest Commission against the new director of BH Telecom, Amel Kovačević, former advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konaković. Kovačević was appointed general director even though the BiH Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest does not allow advisers of elected officials to manage public enterprises six months after the end of their term in office.

According to media reports, Kovačević held an advisory function until recently, and the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the decision of the Supervisory Board of the public company BH Telecom JSC, Sarajevo at the session held on September 21, which elected the acting directors of this company, among them Kovačević.

Amel Kovačević is a member of NiP, and his appointment from a political position directly to the position of a director of one of the most important public companies is contrary to both the Law on Conflict of Interest of BiH and the declarative determination of the new government in FBiH to fulfill the conditions from 14 priorities, among which a particularly emphasized the need for depoliticization of public enterprises.

It should also be recalled that the work of the Commission for Deciding on the Conflict of Interest at the BiH level, which should make a decision in this case, is often blocked due to the political way of decision-making and that numerous infringements from an earlier period have not yet been resolved. This was confirmed recently when the session of this commission was canceled due to lack of quorum, and the agenda included draft decisions on sanctions against several officials, including those against the current Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nermin Nikšić, and the Director of the Communications Regulatory Agency (RAK), Draško Milinović, while a decision has been pending against Milorad Dodik and other politicians who were reported by TI BiH for conflict of interest.

Conflicts of interest passes unhindered even at lower levels because in the Federation of BiH the existing law in this area is not applied and the draft of the new one has been withdrawn from the procedure, while the new amendments to the law in the Republic of Srpska have practically legalized conflict of interests, which indicates that politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite their proclaimed support for the European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are moving in exactly the opposite direction.

TI BIH reminds that the process of European integration requires BiH to improve key anti-corruption laws, among which is the one that regulates conflict of interest, and that this issue can be solved by thoroughly harmonizing laws at all levels of government in BiH and by establishing bodies that are politically and in every other way independent for deciding on the conflict of interest of public officials.

TI BIH submitted an initiative to the Government and Parliament of Federation of BiH for the adoption of two important anti-corruption laws from 14 priorities

Press releases ● 06 October 2023

Sarajevo, October 6, 2023 – Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) sent an official initiative to the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH for the adoption of a new Law on the Prevention of Conflicts of Interest as well as the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers, and according to the rules of procedure, this House must declare itself on the initiative in the next 30 days. TI BiH also sent a repeated initiative to the cabinet of FBiH Prime Minister, Nermin Nikšić, because it concerns two important anti-corruption laws from the 14 EU priorities that the Government of FBiH withdrew from the procedure in May this year and never sent back to the Parliament.

Even then, TI BiH warned that these laws had undergone certain procedures and harmonization and that significant time would be lost, while numerous officials will take advantage of the fact that they continue to be in a conflict of interest, perform multiple functions and allocate public money and jobs to their own private companies and associations. The failure to adopt these laws, as well as numerous appointments made recently by the FBiH Government, where persons directly in conflict of interest were appointed to important positions, are contrary to the declarative determination of this Government to fulfill the conditions from 14 priorities. This was openly expressed in the case of the appointment of the son of the FBiH Minister of Internal Affairs, Rama Isak, as the director of a public institution, as well as in the assignment of important jobs by certain public companies to minister’s family company. Such moves have shown that the government clearly has no intention of adequately regulating this area in the near future, so TI BiH expects an official explanation.

It should also be recalled that it has been 10 years since there is no competent authority in this entity to which cases of conflicts of interest can be reported, and that numerous institutions completely ignore the existence of this law when appointing or allocating budget funds to organizations and private companies run by public officials. According to the latest data from TI BiH, 241 officials in FBiH perform more than one function in public enterprises and public institutions, and many have additional engagements in non-profit organizations financed from the budget.

In the initiative sent to the Government and Parliament, TI BiH reminds that the Federation of BiH is the only level of government that does not legally protect corruption whistleblowers and that public sector employees who decide to report irregularities still do not have institutional protection. Finally, bearing in mind the determination of the new authorities in the FBiH to fulfill the requirements from 14 priorities, a large part of which relates to the entities and not only to the state level, TI BiH once again appeals for the adoption of these important laws that are crucial for the rule of law and fight against corruption.

What corruption trials look like in BiH: Long-lasting processes, low-quality indictments and minimal sentences

Press releases ● 05 October 2023

Sarajevo, October 5, 2023 – Long-lasting court processes, insufficiency of indictments, frequent changes in the composition of the judicial panel and minimum sentences marked the largest number of trials for corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was monitored by Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH) during the last year. On average, hearings were scheduled less than once a month, and an average of 22 months passed from filing of indictment to the first-instance verdict.

In order to present the findings of trial monitoring , TI BiH and BIRN BiH, with the support of the European Union, organized the conference “Integrity of the judiciary and the prosecution of corruption in BiH”, during which a report on monitoring of 35 of the most significant cases, including 170 persons charged with criminal offenses, was presented. What is worrisome in the work of the judiciary are extremely light sentences based on plea agreements, which are often below the legal minimum, which has a stimulating effect on the perpetrators of criminal acts of corruption.

In the observed period, in seven cases four accused of corruption pleaded guilty  and were sentenced to one year in prison, which can be replaced by a fine. For four persons accused of the criminal offense of corruption, the courts in BiH, imposed sentences of less than one year, while 10 persons got a suspended sentence that will not be carried out unless the criminal offense is repeated.

An example that best illustrates how the judiciary fights against corruption is the case of Zoran Jovanović, a customs officer who admitted organizing a group that smuggled excise goods, causing damage to the budget of over 270 thousand BAM, after which the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced him to a suspended prison sentence for the duration of one year and six months, which will not be executed if he does not commit a new criminal offense within three years.

The problem of processing corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina is also influenced by the dynamics of scheduling hearings, which were scheduled less than once a month in the observed cases. The research showed that, on average, the District Court in Banja Luka scheduled 8.5 hearings per case within a year and the Basic Court in Banja Luka 6 times in a year per case, while the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo scheduled 16.5 hearings per case in a year.

Frequent changes in the composition of court panels, especially retirement of judges in the course of the proceedings themselves, as in the cases against Selmo Cikotić and Fadil Novalić, and frequent postponements of hearings, such as in the case against Slavica Injac due to the collapse of Bobar Banka, represent an additional slowdown and prolongation of the proceedings, which diminishes already shaky public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.

One of the reasons for poor results in the prosecution of corruption is the very quality of the indictments, and in some followed cases, criminal offenses were wrongly listed, such as the case against Zijad Mutap, whose indictment listed a criminal offense that does not exist in the law since 2016, while in the indictment against the former prime minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fadil Novalić, the prosecution did not provide a description of the criminal offense charged against the defendants, specifically the criminal offense of money laundering.

Trial monitoring in selected cases of corruption is carried out from March 2022 to April 2023 before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo, the Municipal Court in Sarajevo, the District Court in Banja Luka and the Basic Court in Banja Luka, and the analysis provided the basis for the participants of the conference to confirm the general impression about the judiciary in BiH: it is in a state of permanent institutional captivity, that is, subject to inappropriate influence of political structures and external factors.

Such assessment was confirmed by the Analysis of the Efficiency and Integrity of Disciplinary Procedures against Judges and Prosecutors in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which showed that the mechanisms for ensuring the disciplinary responsibility of holders of judicial functions are insufficiently transparent, complicated and time-consuming, and the method of punishment is relatively mild and ineffective, taking into account the level of responsibility that these functions entail.

Thus, in the observed period, 20 cases were covered in disciplinary proceedings against 26 judges, of which only eight were punished for irregularities in their work, four of which were issued public warnings, while four had salary reduction. There is a similar problem with prosecutors, against whom 12 proceedings were conducted, in which only one prosecutor was moved to a lower position due to negligence in his work, while four were punished with a reduction in salary, with an important note that this measure, according to the Law on HJPC , can last up to one year at most.

Analyzes of disciplinary proceedings against judges and prosecutors as well as trials in corruption cases have shown, once again, that lack of efficiency, low level of integrity and insufficient transparency are the key shortcomings of the judiciary in Bosnia and that a key reform is necessary in terms of planning and conducting the process in court proceedings related to corruption and organized crime, with more efficient use of legal tools and the necessary tightening of the penal policy, the participants of the conference said.

TI BiH: The decision of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska is a continuation of the attack on associations and media that are not under the control of the authorities

Press releases ● 28 September 2023

Banjaluka, September 28, 2023: Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina believes that today’s adoption of the Draft Law on the Publicity of the Work of Non-Profit Organizations is a continuation of the attack on citizens’ associations and media that are not under the control of the authorities in the Republic of Srpska. Despite reasoned criticism that could be heard in the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska, even from the representatives of the ruling majority, that this law designates all organizations financed from abroad as “agents of foreign influence” regardless of their activities, in the end, the adoption of such a draft was not abandoned, the withdrawal of which was requested by numerous domestic and international organizations.

TI BiH, through comments submitted on this law, indicated that it violates the rights to freedom of association guaranteed by the constitution, that it is not in accordance with the Constitution of BiH and the European Convention on Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms, and that it can serve as a basis for banning the work of independent organizations and free media. All other claims that could be heard at the session of the National Assembly of the RS are that the goal of this law is for citizen associations to “pay taxes, submit financial reports, etc.” are completely unarguable because such obligations already exist and are regulated by different laws.

It is also completely absurd to talk about the “publicity of the work of non-profit organizations” and the need to ban them from “political activity” because the Government of the Republic of Srpska continues to hide information about non-governmental organizations that are financed with public money and that openly carried out political activities by holding rallies in support of the government.

This absurdity is even greater because today at the same session, the amendments to the Law on the Prevention of Conflict of Interest were adopted, which officially legalize the right of public officials to have their own non-governmental organizations that are financed from the budget, and to whom from now on they can freely allocate millions of dollars “if they do not receive a salary for their work in an NGO”. TI BIH has repeatedly warned that this law will legalize cases of conflicts of interest of numerous officials and advisers who lead non-governmental organizations financed with millions from the budget and that the last obstacle to the concentration of power in the hands of the eligible and the extraction of public money through such associations will be lost. Therefore, it can be said that at the same session, corruption and extraction of public money through non-governmental organizations connected to the authorities was legalized and the first step was taken towards the demonization and ban of the work of independent associations and media that point to such phenomena.

It is particularly controversial that this law restricts freedom of expression and prohibits one of the basic rights, such as proposing laws. Also, the introduction of the obligation for associations financed from abroad to label materials creates a danger of stigmatization, and the procedure for deletion from the register of “agents of foreign influence” is not foreseen.

TI BiH believes that this law, along with the recent changes to the Criminal Code criminalizing slander, is a continuation of the government’s announced attempts to stifle any public criticism by all means, and even suppress any public criticism with the methods typical of totalitarian regimes.