Independent Board Warns of Consequences of Adopting Amendments to the Law on Police Officers of KS

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Independent Board has been informed about the proposal for amendments and additions to the Law on Police Officers of Sarajevo Canton, which is to be on the agenda of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly on 06.09.2018, and in relation to this, we inform the public of the following:

- We consider it necessary that, along with the amendments to the Law on Police Officers of Sarajevo Canton, the proposal for amendments and additions to the Law on Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton should also be on the agenda, in order to comprehensively eliminate the identified shortcomings and fill the identified gaps, and thus effectively contribute to the improvement and more efficient regulation of the entire security system;

- At the beginning of 2017, the Independent Board of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly submitted its proposals for amendments to both of the aforementioned laws with detailed explanations for each proposed amendment; however, we never received a response regarding their acceptance/rejection;

- The proposed amendments to the Law on Police Officers of Sarajevo Canton, although they refer to harmonization with Federal regulations, do not include the provision on the most favorable 5 years of service as the basis for calculating police officers' pensions, which is contained in the Federal regulation to which harmonization is referred;

- The proposed amendment to the Law on Police Officers of Sarajevo Canton benefits the retention in office of high-ranking police officers, including those who would have been eligible for retirement under the current Law on Police Officers, and these amendments would allow them to remain in the Police Directorate for an additional period of 4 years, even though they should have already retired;

- The Independent Board has previously, through its statements, informed the public about: the necessity of prescribing specific professions for work in the Police Directorate, amending provisions on disciplinary proceedings and not just the issue of statute of limitations in disciplinary proceedings, which also needs amendment (as it is evident that due to vagueness or incomplete regulation of existing provisions, it allows for the punishment of the unsuitable and the acquittal of the suitable from disciplinary responsibility), harmonizing the Law on Police Officers with the provisions of the Framework Law on Higher Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina in terms of prescribing adequate academic titles, which is not currently the case, as suggested by the Public Attorney's Office of Sarajevo Canton a few years ago, and a number of other urgently needed amendments if the work of the Police Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton is to be truly improved and the mechanisms of supervision and control enhanced.