No more one hundred functions: Bill on Prevention of Conflict of Interest Back in Focus

SARAJevo, (Patria) - Deputies in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH Saša Magazinović, Damir Arnaut and Jasmin Emrić have taken on the role of proponents for the Bill on the Prevention of Conflict of Interest in the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, thus bringing this legal solution into the regular parliamentary procedure. This is a law that was drafted by the Members of the BiH Parliament at the end of the previous term with the assistance of Transparency International BiH, OSCE and the EU Delegation.

This Bill will be discussed on January 16 at the session of the House of Representatives of the PSBiH.

We remind you that the proponents of the law believe that the existing Law on Conflict of Interest in the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina needs to be amended to ensure effective and independent application of the conflict of interest institute, to harmonize and align regulations governing conflict of interest throughout the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to improve procedures for collecting, publishing and controlling data on the financial status and assets of public office holders.

The need to align the existing Law with accepted international standards and recommendations, as well as ratified international legal instruments governing conflict of interest, is evident, considering Bosnia and Herzegovina's obligations on its European path in the area of rule of law and the fight against corruption.

Arnaut, Emrić and Magazinović highlight the establishment of an independent, depoliticized and professional body for the implementation of the Law, i.e., the Commission for Deciding on Conflicts of Interest, whose membership cannot include persons who have been members of any political party in the previous 5 years, as the most significant changes.

Members of this body also cannot be persons who, within the previous 10 years, held the position of deputy, delegate, councilor, mayor, municipal mayor, government member, or advisor at any level of government in BiH.

The Law provides for an expansion of the circle of persons to whom the law applies so that all public office holders have equal treatment, and the introduction of precise rules that limit holding multiple positions, as well as clear rules for holding positions, engagements and business activities of public office holders even after their term ends.

Consolidating and harmonizing regulations on asset and conflict of interest reports, clearly defining responsibilities regarding collection, publication and control by the Commission that implements the law, introducing the availability and obligation to submit asset declarations on an annual basis, as well as establishing a system for verifying the accuracy of data in reports and publishing a register of office holders and their assets, expanding the spectrum and types of sanctions, and introducing new mechanisms, such as the annulment of acts resulting from a conflict of interest situation, are some of the important changes envisaged by this law.