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STRASBOURG, December 16 (FENA) - The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) finds the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s compliance with its previous recommendations to be „globally unsatisfactory”.
In two separate reports published today – on the level of compliance with its recommendations aimed at preventing corruption among members of parliament, judges and prosecutors and on incriminations and transparency of party funding – GRECO concludes that Bosnia and Herzegovina has made no significant progress.
None of the fifteen recommendations contained in its Fourth Round Evaluation of anti-corruption policies concerning MPs and judicial officials has been fully implemented. Eleven recommendations have been partly applied and four not at all.
No new developments to strengthen the integrity system of parliamentarians took place. No rules for MPs introduced on their interaction with third parties. No new information provided on how the Code of Conduct is being implemented. A new Law on Conflicts of Interest has still not been adopted and there is also a lack of advisory and training opportunities on corruption prevention for members of parliament, says GRECO, adding that the authorities are yet to introduce a credible and independent mechanism to deal with conflicts of interest and ensure an in-depth checking of asset declarations.
As for judges and prosecutors, the Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) has been in the pipeline for seven years and separate judicial and prosecutorial departments and sub-commissions are yet to be set up within the HJPC structures. While acknowledging that the evaluation of the performance has been broadened to include chief prosecutors at the State and Entity levels, GRECO finds no guarantee that these evaluations will be protected from interference by the executive and legislative powers.
In view of the lack of tangible progress, GRECO concludes that the very low level of compliance with the recommendations is now „globally unsatisfactory” and, in accordance with its Rule 32, asks the Head of delegation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to provide a report on the progress in implementing the pending recommendations, by 30 September 2021.
In its new follow up report to the Third Evaluation Round focusing on incriminations and transparency of party funding, also published today, GRECO finds that there has been no meaningful progress since December 2018. In total, only 10 out of 22 recommendations have been satisfactorily implemented, eight remain only partly applied and four not at all. Much more needs to be done to strengthen the transparency of political party financing. As for the previous report, the Head of delegation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is to provide a report on the progress in implementing the pending recommendations, by 30 September 2021.
The Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) is a Council of Europe body that aims to improve the capacity of its members to fight corruption by monitoring their compliance with anti-corruption standards. It helps states to identify deficiencies in national anti-corruption policies, prompting the necessary legislative, institutional and practical reforms. Currently it comprises the 47 Council of Europe member states, Belarus, Kazakhstan and the United States of America.
(FENA) L. N.
