Agency Gave Opinion: FUP Should Have Published Names and Surnames of 88 Hired Candidates

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The cabinet of the Federal Minister of Internal Affairs, Aljoša Čampare, has submitted to the Independent Board of the FBiH Parliament, the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office of Sarajevo Canton an opinion received from the Personal Data Protection Agency of BiH regarding the publication of the names and surnames of candidates for employment as police officers and junior inspectors in the Federal Police Administration.

We remind you that the list was published, but without names and surnames, only with candidate codes, which raised suspicions that the hiring process was not transparent.

RELATED ARTICLE: The competition for hiring 88 police officers in FUP will not be annulled, affected candidates will go to court

The Personal Data Protection Agency of BiH was asked to provide an opinion to the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs (FMUP), which includes the FUP, based on Article 40, Paragraph (2), Point g) of the Law on Personal Data Protection, on whether it is permissible to publish the names and surnames of hired candidates for police service on the FUP notice board, and whether the FUP has ever contacted the Personal Data Protection Agency of BiH with a request for an opinion regarding the legality of publishing the names and surnames of candidates for the positions of police officer and junior inspector.

"The cabinet of the Federal Minister of Internal Affairs received the Opinion of the Personal Data Protection Agency of BiH on the publication of the candidate list on the notice board on November 19, 2021, which confirmed all the claims from the letter I sent to the FUP, the Independent Board of the FBiH Parliament, the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office of Sarajevo Canton on November 09, 2021.

In this context, the Personal Data Protection Agency of BiH pointed out Articles 45, 52, and 53 of the Law on Police Officers of FBiH ("Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH", Nos. 27/05, 70/08, 44/11, and 13/18), which clearly stipulate that a police authority "publishes on its notice board a list with the results achieved in each test, as well as the final results of all candidates who took the tests", that "the selection commission publishes on the notice board of the police authority the final list of all candidates proposed for employment", and that "the list is published so that each candidate can submit an appeal to the Police Board of the FBiH".

I specifically point out the part of the opinion where the Personal Data Protection Agency of BiH states the following: "From the above, it clearly follows that the Law on Police Officers of FBiH stipulates that lists with achieved results and the final list of all candidates proposed for employment are published on the notice board of the police authority conducting the employment process".

Given all of the above, the Personal Data Protection Agency of BiH concluded the following: "We are of the opinion that the publication of the final list with the names and surnames of candidates proposed for employment, on the notice board of the police authority, in accordance with the cited provisions of the Law on Police Officers of FBiH, is not contrary to the principle of fairness and legality from Article 4, Paragraph (1), Point a) of the Law".

The Personal Data Protection Agency of BiH also confirmed the claims from the request I sent to the FUP, the Independent Board of the FBiH Parliament, the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office of Sarajevo Canton, which relate to the FUP's claims that the names and surnames of the hired candidates were not published because "Article 39 of the Law on Police Officers of the Federation of BiH ("Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH", Nos. 27/05, 70/08, 44/11, and 13/18) establishes the rights of police officers not to be unnecessarily put in physical danger".

I clearly pointed out that at the time of the publication of the list of hired candidates, the candidates do not have the status of police officers, and therefore Article 39 of the Law on Police Officers of FBiH, which states: "Rights of Police Officers", does not apply to them. At the time of the list's publication, candidates have the status of candidates, i.e., civilians or citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They gain the status of cadets according to Article 55, Paragraph (1) of the Law on Police Officers of FBiH after the start of basic police training at the Police Academy of FMUP, and the status of police officers according to Article 58, Paragraph (1) of the Law on Police Officers of FBiH after successfully completing basic training, i.e., after the manager assigns the cadet to the position of "police officer" or "junior inspector", which is published on the notice board of the police authority.

In this regard, I emphasize that the Personal Data Protection Agency of BiH concluded the following: "In accordance with your statements in the referenced act, we are of the opinion that Article 39 of the Law on Police Officers of FBiH, which regulates the rights of police officers, is irrelevant to the processing of personal data of candidates in the employment procedure, which is prescribed in Chapter V of the same law". I emphasize once again that the FUP invoked precisely Article 39 of the Law on Police Officers of FBiH, in which it baselessly found grounds for hiding the names and surnames of the hired candidates," the letter from Aljoša Čampare states.

The Agency also informed the FMUP that the FUP had not contacted the Personal Data Protection Agency of BiH with a request for an opinion regarding the legality of publishing the names and surnames of hired candidates "for the selection of police officers for the rank of 'police officer' and 'junior inspector'."