Boško Šiljegović Illegally Received a Third Term as Military Commissioner!

BiH, (Patria) - The House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina appointed Boško Šiljegović as the parliamentary military commissioner of BiH. From the non-governmental sector, they warn that this constitutes a violation of the law.

Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) had earlier warned that appointing the same person to the position of parliamentary military commissioner of BiH for a third term would represent the most serious violation of the Law on the Parliamentary Military Commissioner of BiH. 

Representatives in the Parliament of BiH, however, explain that the first time Šiljegović was elected by the Commission, and that term does not count, and therefore his new appointment is lawful.

Analyst from Transparency International, Peđa Đurasović, tells Patria that although the Law on the Parliamentary Military Commissioner of BiH itself stipulates that the election of the commissioner in the first term is carried out by the Joint Commission for Defense and Security of BiH, nowhere in the law does it stipulate that the method of election and appointment of the commissioner in the first term excludes the application of the law's provisions defining the total number of terms a person can hold the position of military commissioner.

- The fact that the law provided for the Joint Commission to elect and appoint the first military commissioner, and that the term of the first military commissioner is legally limited until June 30, 2012, does not affect the fact that this appointment is considered non-existent in relation to subsequent appointments of the same person to the position of military commissioner – says Đurasović.

From TI BiH, they maintain the claim that the provisions of the Law on the Parliamentary Military Commissioner of BiH were violated in the case of Šiljegović's appointment to a new term, "because the Law clearly states that the term of the military commissioner lasts five years, with the possibility of one re-election, with the same law limiting the duration of the first term of the military commissioner until June 30, 2012."

One of the key issues regarding the establishment of the position of the military commissioner of BiH is cooperation with other existing institutions, especially the institution of the Ombudsman for Human Rights of BiH and the Ministry of Defense and its chief inspector. The goal is to ensure effective protection of human rights for all members of the defense system of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The military commissioner receives complaints from members of the defense system of BiH and forwards them to the chief inspector of the Ministry of Defense of BiH, who conducts an investigation and informs the military commissioner of its results. To ensure effective implementation of the Law on the Military Commissioner and its competencies, the military commissioner retains the right to an additional independent investigation. When it comes to the right to complain, every military person or cadet in the Armed Forces has the right to directly contact the military commissioner, without the mediation of competent services, and to submit a complaint.