Still No Law Amendments, Police Unable to Enforce Compliance

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Sarajevo Canton Assembly, at its session on July 28, did not consider the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Misdemeanors Against Public Order and Peace under an urgent procedure because the session was interrupted after the adoption of the Sarajevo Canton Budget rebalance. It is still unknown when the session will resume, and it is possible that there will be no more sessions in August.

If the session does not resume and the proposed amendments are not adopted, the Sarajevo police will be unable to control compliance with or enforcement of orders and take measures and actions within their jurisdiction, as required by crisis headquarters, primarily the Crisis Headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Health. For example, an Order from the Sarajevo Canton Crisis Headquarters stipulates the mandatory wearing of masks for citizens in enclosed spaces or in open public places where a distance of 2 meters cannot be ensured. Even if the police witness non-compliance with the measures, they cannot sanction it.

As stated in the explanation, the proposed amendments focus on controlling compliance with or enforcement of orders issued by competent authorities, which, in accordance with special laws, prescribe measures for the protection of the population from infectious diseases, but only if the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Sarajevo Canton, i.e., the Police Administration and its police officers, are explicitly authorized based on such a legally issued order.
 
"The protection of the population's health, as one of the segments of personal safety, is imposed as a purpose and imperative for the adoption of the law, especially if we consider the current epidemiological security situation, i.e., the severity of the consequences resulting from mass violations of orders," the material forwarded to the deputies in the Sarajevo Canton Assembly states.

Article 2 stipulates an amendment to Article 8 of the current law, introducing a new offense that reads: "Whoever fails to comply with an order from a competent authority prescribing measures for the protection of the population from infectious diseases."

Article 4 proposes a new article specifying the cases in which police officers of the authorized body, which is the Police Administration, can control compliance with or enforcement of orders and take measures and actions within their jurisdiction (e.g., identity checks, issuing warnings, issuing orders, issuing misdemeanor orders, filing misdemeanor charges, etc.), with the primary goal of clearly defining jurisdiction in relation to other competent authorities (e.g., inspection bodies). 
   
The main reason for adopting these amendments is that court proceedings have ruled in favor of citizens who received misdemeanor orders for not wearing masks and violating other prohibition measures during March, April, and May. It was determined that there was no legal basis for such action in the case of not wearing masks.

In Sarajevo alone, the police issued over 3,500 misdemeanor orders amounting to 500 KM.

The order issued by the Federal Crisis Headquarters on July 24 states:

"The Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs - Federal Police Administration and the Cantonal Ministry of Internal Affairs - Police Administration are tasked with taking measures within their competence as support to inspection services, in order to control the enforcement of ordered measures and prevent the spread of COVID-19 in their jurisdiction."