Legendary Miroslav Nosse: Legal battle with the state lasts 30 years due to administrative error

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - For nearly three decades, celebrated Yugoslav racing driver Miroslav Nosse has been unable to resolve a problem with a business premises in the old part of Sarajevo, which arose due to an error by the then municipal administration.

It was established that in the early 1990s, a municipal official made a mistake and allocated Nosse a part of a plot for the construction of his business facility in the old part of the city, even though that plot was not owned by the municipality. As a result, despite having all urban planning, construction, and use permits, Nosse has not been able to register part of the business premises in the land registry to this day, nor has he been able to collect all the money from the buyer to whom he sold the facility after the war ended.

"I am aware of the large number of cases pending before the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo, but I would like the second-instance verdict to be expedited, given my age," says Nosse (83), who submitted a request to the Cantonal Court in October last year, noting that this is just one of many unsuccessful requests he has sent to the Bosnian judiciary in hopes of resolving his case.

The Cantonal Court in Sarajevo issued a first-instance verdict in Nosse's favor in 2015, but the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e., the State Attorney's Office, appealed that verdict, after which the verdict never reached a second-instance decision at the Cantonal Court.

Last year, the Human Rights Ombudsmen also wrote to the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo about Miroslav Nosse's case, appealing to the court to expedite the second-instance verdict.
Reporting judge Dubravka Krajišnik responded to the Ombudsmen that the court would decide on the Nosse case in the first quarter of 2018, by March 31, 2018.

"The projected deadline for resolving this specific case is 1,688 days, and a delay in resolution of 1,044 days is anticipated," states the court's response, which also informs the Ombudsmen that the number of unresolved cases in the Civil Division of the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo amounts to 21,000 cases.

"Bearing in mind the content of the urgency recommendation, this court will decide on the appeal in this legal matter within the Case Resolution Plan for the First Quarter of 2018, i.e., by March 31, 2018," the court informed the Ombudsmen, but that set deadline was violated.

"My case, unfortunately, was not resolved even a year after that promise," says Nosse, who also wrote to the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina in January this year.

"I do not wish to influence the outcome of the proceedings, I only want the process to be expedited," Nosse told Patria.

It is absurd, says Nosse, that a multiple award-winning athlete and humanitarian, who has received the highest accolades from society, cannot resolve a problem that has burdened him for three decades, and through no fault of his own.