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SARAJEVO, September 29 (FENA) - The establishment of an independent body composed of independent experts is key to responding to the issue of conflict of interest in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was pointed out today at the conference "Prevention of Conflicts of Interest in BiH: The Legislation".
The meeting was jointly organized in Sarajevo by Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) and the Public Law Center (FCJP) with the aim of serving as a platform for further discussion to find the most optimal solution for regulating the conflict of interest in BiH.
The current legal framework regulating the issue of conflict of interest at the state level is unsatisfactory and does not provide for effective protection mechanisms, while at the level of the Federation of BiH it has not been implemented at all since 2013, it was said today.
TI BiH Executive Director Ivana Korajlić assessed that there is complete chaos in BiH when it comes to regulating the governing of the conflict of interest, and the draft law supported by TI has been in the parliamentary procedure for three years, while the Council of Ministers is drafting a new law in that area.
"The commission that decides on conflict of interest is currently a completely political body because it consists of representatives from the Parliamentary Assembly and there can be no talk of any independence," said Korajlić.
As another problem, she singled out the insufficient scope of persons covered by conflict of interest, and the problem is also the prescribed sanctions for conflict of interest that do not motivate compliance with the law.
Another problem is the fact that there is no mechanism for controlling property records or unified regulations when it comes to the obligation to submit property records for all holders of public office.
Damir Arnaut, an MP in the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, underlined that the law on conflict of interest is so important now because inadequate regulation of that area is recognized in the EC Opinion for BiH, where conflict of interest reform is one of the 14 priorities highlighted in the Opinion.
These conditions need to be met in order for BiH to gain a candidate status for EU membership, but Arnaut is of the opinion that this should not happen at least until BiH gets a new law on conflict of interest because without an independent mechanism to control public officials, BiH is nowhere near where a country with a candidate status should be.
(FENA) S. R.
