TI BiH sent an open letter to the Council of Ministers of BiH – to stop obstructions to the adoption of the new Law on Conflict of Interest

According to the conclusions of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, the BiH Council of Ministers did not meet the deadline within which the draft Law on Conflict of Interest in BiH Government Institutions should have been sent to the procedure. The 90-day deadline expired in April, and Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) sent an open letter to the Ministry of Justice and the BiH Council of Ministers.

Banja Luka, 19. June 2020 – According to the conclusions of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, the BiH Council of Ministers did not meet the deadline within which the draft Law on Conflict of Interest in BiH Government Institutions should have been sent to the procedure. The 90-day deadline expired in April, and Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) sent an open letter to the Ministry of Justice and the BiH Council of Ministers.

The draft law, in the drafting of which TI BiH also participated, and which was supported by international organizations, including the EU and the OSCE, was before the deputies of the House of Representatives 16. January this year, but instead of declaring the Proposal, the House of Representatives instructed the Council of Ministers to draft its own draft law, which has not happened to date. Due to all this, it seems that the competent institutions are obstructing the adoption of this Law, which is one of the key mechanisms for the prevention of corruption.

The existing legal solution does not contain all the necessary mechanisms for the prevention of conflicts of interest, is not in line with international standards, and is not applied at all because the new convocation of the Commission for deciding on conflicts of interest since 2018. he has not been appointed, so there has been no one to solve numerous applications for two years.

We remind you that the latest report of the Group of Countries against Corruption of the Council of Europe (GRECO) clearly states that there is no credible and independent mechanism in BiH that deals with conflicts of interest, and that urgent changes are needed in this area. Also, the improvement of this law is one of the 14 key priorities in the European Commission’s Opinion on BiH’s application for EU membership.

With an open letter, TI BIH again submitted proposals to the address of the Ministry of Justice and the Council of Ministers of BIH, with which all relevant international institutions agreed, which also earlier appealed for the adoption of the Law. Among other things, it is proposed to expand the circle of persons to whom the law will be applied, to prevent the misuse of public resources for political promotion, as well as to establish an independent commission that would decide on conflicts of interest. That commission would be elected on the basis of a public competition, while according to the current law, the majority of members of the Commission are representatives of both houses of the PSBiH and decide on conflicts of interest of their party colleagues. Also, one of the key proposals is the establishment of a mechanism for checking property records and the introduction of sanctions for providing false information.

Having in mind the lack of will to improve the Law on Conflict of Interest, TI BiH appealed to the Ministry of Justice and the Council of Ministers to finally start the law drafting procedure, guided by international standards and recommendations, to open the process to the public, enable public debate and include all relevant domestic and international organizations in order to reach the best possible solution that will improve anti-corruption mechanisms.

However, it is evident that the prevention of conflicts of interest is obstructed at all levels of government in BiH, which opens space for numerous abuses and corruption, and leads to numerous officials performing two or more incompatible functions without any consequences. In the Federation of BiH, the Law on Conflict of Interest has not been applied since 2013. because no amendments to the regulations that would define who determines the conflict of interest have been adopted. In the Republika Srpska, the law is applied, but it contains numerous shortcomings, so most public officials perform several incompatible functions, hiding behind the long-term mandates of the acting president. Republika Srpska envisaged its improvement in the Anti-Corruption Strategy, in charge of the Ministry of Administration and Local Self-Government as the proposer of the changes, but it was publicly announced from this ministry that it does not plan to do that in the near future.

Press rls – 19.6.2020.

Ministry of Justice of BiH_Open letter

Council of Ministers of BiH_Open letter