TI BIH ANALYSIS: REFORM LAWS ADOPTED THROUGH EU INTEGRATION DID NOT GIVE RESULTS, NEGATIVE EFFECTS VISIBLE IN SOME AREAS

No positive developments were recorded after the adoption of four reform laws significant for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European path. Some provisions are not implemented, while some already have negative effects, which civil society warned about before the adoption of the law. The analysis of Transparency International in BiH (TI BIH) showed that the new Law on Freedom of Access to Information at the BiH level did not accelerate the publication of data of public interest.

“According to the experience of TI BIH, the waiting time for the decision of the second instance authority is longer than during the application of the old law.” Although the Appeals Chamber at the Council of Ministers in most cases made decisions on appeals within the legally prescribed time limit, some first-instance bodies did not submit their decisions to the TI BIH within the legally prescribed time limit. In addition, a long list of exceptions allows the authorities to hide numerous information of public interest and thus prevent the media and civil society from monitoring the work of institutions and uncovering irregularities.”

In addition, a long list of exceptions allows the authorities to hide numerous information of public interest, thus preventing the media and civil society from monitoring the work of institutions and uncovering irregularities.

The amendments to the Law on the HJPC did not improve the integrity of the holders of judicial offices in practice, and the Department for checking property records of judges and prosecutors has not yet been established. Also, not all the recommendations of the EU and the Venice Commission were followed, and non-implementation of the new provisions called into question the functioning of the umbrella institution of the BiH judiciary. Immediately before the implementation of the law, the HJPC appointed a number of holders of judicial positions, and new appointments are made without checking reports on assets and interests. Due to political obstructions related to the adoption of the budget, the Department will carry out checks of property records retroactively only from February 2025. In addition to these urgent changes, the goal of which should have been to strengthen the integrity of the judiciary, Bosnia and Herzegovina must also adopt a new law on the HJPC. The recently prepared preliminary draft does not meet the necessary standards, which TI BiH has already warned about and which was confirmed by the opinion of the Venice Commission.

The new law on the Prevention of Conflict of Interest brought significant improvements, but its implementation was postponed for 6 months, i.e. until September of this year. The competition for the appointment of members of the new independent Commission that will decide on the conflict of interest was announced only at the end of May and it is unlikely that it will be completed on time. The commission will have a short deadline to adopt a large number of by-laws, which could further delay the implementation of the law due to the current work dynamics. It is important to note that the focus of the reforms is placed only on the state level, while the law regulating this issue is still not applied in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Republic of Srpska adopted harmful changes last year and practically legalized the conflict of interest. The Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorist Activities still does not meet all international standards and recommendations. TI BiH appeals to the Ministry of Security of BiH to speed up work in order to meet the deadline for the adoption of by-laws by the end of August 2024, without which the implementation of the law is not possible.

Although the adoption and implementation of these laws are necessary for the effective fight against corruption, which is a key priority for BiH on the European path, TI BiH points out that the authorities in BiH did not perform the quality work when it comes to this task. The process was non-transparent, with no opportunity for meaningful public participation, and civil society proposals submitted during public consultations were generally not adopted. Before the vote, the Council of Ministers changed the essential provisions of the reform laws, thus rendering the process meaningless. Due to all of the above, the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina who suffer the consequences of widespread corruption on a daily basis have not yet felt the positive effects of the reforms. The European Commission will publish its assessment of the quality of the content and application of the aforementioned laws in the Expansion Package, i.e. the report on Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is expected to be published in October this year.

Press rls_22.07.24.

* Addendum published on July 26, 2024: Transparency International in BiH, after the publication of the analysis and announcement, received the reaction of the Appeals Council at the BiH Council of Ministers about the part related to the implementation of the Law on Freedom of Access to Information at the level of BiH institutions. In the original version of the analysis and announcement, it was announced that the Appeals Council at the Council of Ministers of BiH did not comply with the legal deadline for dealing with appeals in the second instance procedure. An additional check established that the Appeals Council of the BiH Council of Ministers made decisions within the legal deadline, but that the first-instance authorities did not submit a decision on the appeal to the applicant, that is, TI BIH.

“According to the experience of TI BIH, the waiting time for the decision of the second instance authority is longer than during the application of the old law.” Although the Appeals Chamber at the Council of Ministers in most cases made decisions on appeals within the legally prescribed time limit, some first-instance bodies did not submit their decisions to TI BIH within the legally prescribed time limit. In addition, a long list of exceptions allows the authorities to hide numerous information of public interest and thus prevent the media and civil society from monitoring the work of institutions and uncovering irregularities.”

This version of the analysis and announcement has been modified in accordance with the results of the review.