TI BIH: Regulating conflicts of interest at the cantonal level leads to legal uncertainty and additional room for abuse [

[: bs] Banja Luka, May 10, 2022 – Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) considers harmful the initiative of the Sarajevo Canton authorities to regulate competencies at the cantonal level for determining conflicts of interest and protecting whistleblowers. This is envisaged by the Draft Law on Prevention and Suppression of Corruption in Sarajevo Canton, which was adopted by the Assembly of KS in the form of a draft and in the coming period, after a public debate, should be again before the deputies for adoption. TI BiH warns that this issue should be regulated at the entity level, and that regulating such important issues as conflicts of interest of public office holders could lead to legal uncertainty, fragmentation of the legal framework, implementation problems and additional inconsistencies in the anti-corruption system throughout BiH. .

TI BiH reminds that the Law on Conflict of Interest in Government Bodies in the Federation of BiH is still formally in force, and the Proposal of Amendments to this Law would be in the procedure, which would define the competence of the body for its implementation, as well as the Law on Protection of Corruption Reporters. The recommendations of GRECO and the Venice Commission call for regulation and harmonization of this matter at the state, entity and Brcko District levels, and the need to centralize and harmonize these regulations, instead of multiplying regulations that would put public office holders in different positions and cantons.

Comments on the draft law submitted by the TI BiH to the KS Assembly pointed out other shortcomings, such as leaving space for public office holders in Sarajevo Canton to be in the bodies of private companies that do business with other levels of government or to be in the bodies of funded associations. are other levels. This shortcoming is best illustrated by the fact that it is not advisable to regulate this area at the cantonal level, because the existing Law on Conflict of Interest in FBiH prescribes incompatibilities in relation to private companies that enter into contracts with any level of government.

In addition, the draft cantonal law still does not guarantee the independence of the Conflict of Interest Commission, whose president should be the head of the KS Anti-Corruption Office while the other members are elected by the KS Assembly. This would create a hybrid system between a Commission that is a body of the Assembly and an office that is a body of the Government whose competencies are intertwined in the proposed solution. In addition, the competencies of this body are very limited, and it cannot identify incompatibilities or situations of conflict of interest in relation to other levels of government. According to the findings of TI BiH, different regulations at different levels in recent years have allowed many officials to circumvent the regulations and have been in open conflict of interest for years.

Regarding the attempt to regulate the area of protection of whistleblowers by this law, the proposed draft excludes persons who report corruption in the private sector

Due to all the above, TI BiH calls on the proposers to withdraw the proposed solution from the procedure because a possible chain reaction of other cantons, which would adopt different solutions, or in some cases would not adopt, could lead to complete chaos in the anti-corruption system and easier circumvention of regulations. by officials in conflict of interest.

Instead, TI BiH calls on the coalition that proposes a solution at the Sarajevo Canton level to redirect efforts to adopting the FBiH Law on Conflict of Interest, which has not been implemented since 2013. year, because the competence of the body for its implementation was not determined, after it was taken away from the Central Election Commission, as well as the adoption of the Law on Protection of Corruption Reporters FBiH, which was already adopted by the House of Representatives, but its adoption stopped at the House of Peoples.

Press rls_10.05.22_ [:]