Criminal complaint filed against minister Amela Dautbegović

The Independent Trade Union of Cantonal Civil Servants and Employees in Sarajevo filed a criminal complaint with the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office in Sarajevo against the Minister of Labour, Social Policy, Displaced Persons and Refugees of Sarajevo Canton, Amela Dautbegović, due to obstruction and delays regarding the issuance of a decision on the representativeness of this trade union.

The criminal complaint was filed based on Articles 229 and 230 of the Law on Criminal Procedure of the Federation of BiH due to the criminal offense under Article 387, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of the Federation of BiH.

The accused, Amela Dautbegović, as the Minister of Labour, Social Policy, Displaced Persons and Refugees of Sarajevo Canton, is directly responsible for the work and decisions made in the procedures conducted by that ministry, and therefore bears responsibility for the ministry's actions in this procedure of issuing a decision on trade union representativeness, the complaint states.

Namely, the administrative body is obliged to act in accordance with the Law on Administrative Procedure of the FBiH in conducting the procedure and to adhere to the provisions of the said law, as well as other legal regulations, when making decisions. In the mentioned procedure of issuing a decision on the representativeness of our trade union, the Ministry made a Conclusion on the Suspension of Proceedings. The said conclusion suspended the procedure for issuing a decision on representativeness until the competent ministry for registration of associations verifies the registration of the trade union.

The explanation of the conclusion stated that during the procedure, it was determined that the administrative matter could not be resolved until the competent ministry for the registration of associations at the appropriate level of government carried out the necessary checks of the registration procedure, including whether administrative or other proceedings were underway before the competent authorities on the said matter.

The Ministry assessed the mentioned registration check as a preliminary issue, on which it decided not to rule itself, even though it is a matter that is a standard part of the check for issuing the requested decision, and therefore cannot be considered a preliminary issue.

In this case, it is not just a group of dissatisfied trade union leaders, but members of an entire association who are employees of judicial and state bodies, and it is therefore questionable how other workers who lack awareness of the state apparatus will protect their interests.

Through the said actions, the minister denied the right of the complainants to realize the right to participate in the conclusion of branch agreements by recognizing their representativeness, thereby violating their fundamental labor rights.

- Therefore, we hope that the Prosecutor's Office will not yield to political pressure in its proceedings, but will act in full accordance with the law, the complaint states - the statement reads.