The BiH Ministry of Justice is persistently trying to reverse the Law on Conflict of Interest

The BiH Ministry of Justice rejected two-thirds of the proposals submitted by Transparency International to BiH through e-consultations on the draft Law on Conflict of Interest. All key proposals that would lead to the improvement of this area, which is required of BiH by the European Union, were rejected, and the Ministry obviously does not give up its intention to reverse the existing law and establish even lower standards than we have now.

Banja Luka, 19. February 2021. – The Ministry of Justice of BiH rejected two thirds of the proposals submitted by Transparency International in BiH through e-consultations to the draft Law on Conflict of Interest. All key proposals that would lead to the improvement of this area, which is required of BiH by the European Union, were rejected, and the Ministry obviously does not give up its intention to reverse the existing law and establish even lower standards than we have now.

The law proposes that BH officials be allowed to own or direct private companies that do business with lower-level institutions, although even the existing law, which seeks to improve, prohibits such dealings with institutions at any level. In almost the same case, the Ministry rejected TIBiH’s proposal to maintain the existing provision of the law, which prohibits BH officials from leading budget-funded associations at any level. Instead, restrictions are introduced only for associations financed from the budget of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is a big step backwards because officials in state institutions can exercise their influence for personal interests at all levels of government.

In addition to these two provisions, which will certainly set back the existing law, the Ministry rejected a number of proposals, such as a proposal to ban public officials from being directors of public institutions at the same time. TI BiH’s proposal to increase penalties for violating the law was also rejected, as well as that members of the commission that will decide on conflicts of interest must not be members of political parties, which is GRECO’s recommendation in terms of ensuring the commission’s independence. Instead, the Ministry stuck to the proposal that commission members could not be members of only political party governing bodies for five years prior to appointment, which would certainly not ensure the commission’s independence.

In the part concerning the work of the Commission for Deciding on Conflict of Interest, the Ministry proposed that seven members must make a decision unanimously, which will again leave room for obstructions and blockades of the work of the commission that we have seen so far. If there is no unanimous decision, the proposal is for the Appellate Council of the BiH Council of Ministers to give the final word, which would further legalize political interference in the work of the commission that should decide on conflicts of interest of appointed and elected BiH officials.

The Ministry of Justice of BiH has accepted some proposals of the TI BiH, such as better definition of related persons who are in a family, political or economic relationship with holders of public office. However, this does not change the fact that such a law is a big step backwards for the entire area of conflict of interest, although its improvement is one of the 14 key priorities of BiH on the European path.

It should also be noted that the Delegation of the European Union to BiH, the OSCE Mission and the Embassy of the United States recently sent a letter to the Ministry warning that such a law does not meet international standards and does not respect GRECO’s recommendations.

Also, it is important to remind that the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH recently adopted the Proposal of the Law on Conflict of Interest, which to a large extent, despite the adopted amendments derogating from certain provisions, meets international standards. Therefore, a better solution for Bosnia and Herzegovina would be for such a law to be adopted by the House of Peoples in harmonization, than to start a new procedure with the proposal of the BiH Ministry of Justice, which establishes even lower standards than we have now.

Press rls_19_2_2021 – The BiH Ministry of Justice is persistently trying to reverse the Law on Conflict of Interest