TI BiH presented the Draft Amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest of BiH

Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina presented the Draft Amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest of BiH that should eliminate the long-lasting blockage for implementation of the regulations on the conflict of interest.

The Draft Amendments proposed by TI BiH refer to the expansion of the scope of persons to whom the regulations apply – from the current narrow application to the elected, nominated officials and consultants, to all holders of public functions, including all elected, nominated and appointed persons in all institutions, organizations, enterprises and bodies established by the government organs.
TI BiH also proposes to transfer the jurisdiction over the implementation of the Law from the Commission for Deciding on the Conflict of Interest of BiH, mostly composed of the representatives of the Parliament, to the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and the Coordination of the Fight against Corruption (APIK). In this way we would eliminate the long-lasting obstacles and problems in the implementation of the Law, emerged by establishing of the Commission for Deciding on the Conflict of Interest, whose status has not been adequately defined and which could not have functioned and implemented the Law since 2013 when the Law was adopted at the level of BiH.
Other proposals of TI BiH refer to:
– Widening limitations for the engagement of public function holders in private enterprises, in order to prevent the current practice of having the public officials to be owners of or to have financial interest in companies which do business with the state.
– Prohibiting holding multiple functions, regardless of the government level at which those functions are
– Obligation of submitting a report on financial and property status on annual basis, as well as the establishment of the control of data provided by the reports and publication of the register of holders and their property
– the increase od monetary sanctions and introduction of additional sanctions, such as dismissal from office and abolishment of the act performed in a situation of law violation.
TI BiH presented its proposals at the conference attended by the representatives of the executive and legislative power. The main message of the conference was that the current situation in which no one decides on the conflict of interest at the level of BiH, FBiH and the Brcko District led to a complete collapse of the system and left enormous opportunities for the abuse, legalized many forms of corruption and caused immeasurable damage due to the existence of numerous cases of conflict of interest that still remain unsanctioned. Therefore, it is necessary to act urgently and adopt Amendments to the Law, that will, in long term, improve the system of determining the conflict of interest and thus contribute to the fight against corruption.