Fines reduced by 50 percent if paid eight days after the order is issued

The implementation of the new Law on Misdemeanors in the Federation of BiH, which has been in force since August 14, 2014, requires coordinated action by a larger number of bodies competent for misdemeanor proceedings, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

At today's meeting between the Federal Minister of Justice Zoran Mikulić and representatives of the Federal and Cantonal Ministries of Internal Affairs, the Federal Administration for Inspection Affairs, the Tax Administration of the Federation of BiH, and the Agency for Identification Documents, Records and Data Exchange (IDDEA), it was agreed that normative-legal, organizational, IT-technical, and other prerequisites should be created to enable the implementation of this extremely important federal regulation, which is part of the recently adopted set of anti-corruption laws of the Government of the Federation of BiH.

Among the significant innovations of the Law on Misdemeanors in the Federation of BiH is the provision that allows for the exemption from paying 50 percent of the fine amount if the fined person pays it within the legally prescribed period, i.e., eight days after the misdemeanor order. This is also important due to the fact that the recording of an unpaid fine entails the inability to issue certain documents, such as a driver's license and the transfer of ownership of a motor vehicle.

Such a provision requires the development and deployment of a new software application that will enable the recording of misdemeanor orders and provide options for deleting fines from the register in cases of paying half the fine. Competent authorities will record misdemeanors and their perpetrators, but misdemeanor orders will be issued and entered into the system in accordance with the law once IDDEA completes its part of the work.