Rule of Law and the Law on Higher Education

By Amra Varatanović

The Law on Higher Education of Sarajevo Canton is not respected or implemented at the Faculty of Medicine in Sarajevo, the Statute of the University of Sarajevo (UNSA) is not respected, decisions of the Rector are ignored, decisions of the UNSA Management Board are ignored, decisions of the inspection are ignored, decisions of the courts are ignored. The rule of law is completely absent at this institution at this moment. Those who manage the Faculty are directly responsible, and all relevant collected documentation has been submitted to the competent institutions in KS.

This was stated by the Rector of the University of Sarajevo, Professor Rifat Škrijelj, commenting on everything that has been happening at the Faculty of Medicine in Sarajevo for almost two years. When asked directly what he expects to resolve the situation at the Faculty of Medicine, whether through someone's arrest, resignation, or in some other way, the Rector said: "I expect the rule of law to function at the Faculty of Medicine."

The Rector said all this in front of numerous journalists and more than 20 members of the Teaching-Scientific Council of the Faculty of Medicine who came to the Rectorate premises, led by the illegal/suspended/dismissed Dean Semra Čavaljuga and the Director of KCUS, Sebija Izetbegović.

And while the saga between the Rector-Faculty of Medicine-Founder (Sarajevo Canton) is ongoing, the question of the legality of the processes taking place at that faculty during this time is justifiably raised?! The enrollment of students is not and will not be jeopardized because the dean is not responsible for it. The salaries of the Faculty of Medicine employees are also no longer signed by the dean, but by the rector after the transition to treasury operations. Everything else that Čavaljuga decides and puts her signature on will be, or at least should be, subject to the work of investigative bodies.

Several criminal charges have been filed against Semra Čavaljuga for various criminal offenses. Only one of them relates to abuse of position and misrepresentation. The official website of UNSA does not list the name of the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine from the day she was dismissed. Čavaljuga refused to implement court decisions in the case of Ismet Gavrankapetanović, and the non-implementation of court decisions is also a criminal offense.

In the year when the University of Sarajevo celebrates its 70th anniversary, it is clearer than ever that politics has taken over the education system. The main protagonists of the adoption of the new Law on Higher Education of KS shyly admit that mistakes were made that are now backfiring. One of them is the then-Prime Minister Elmedin Konaković, a former member of SDA, and now the Speaker of the KS Assembly and the president of People and Justice, who proposed Žinetta Bogunić as the Minister of Education.

Parts of the academic community warned that the Law on Higher Education is unfeasible and vague in some segments, and that the autonomy of UNSA will be stifled. And precisely this vagueness of the Law was an argument for the dismissal of numerous professors from the Faculty of Medicine simply because they stopped working at the University Clinical Center Sarajevo. Although the Law does not stipulate in any word that KCUS is the exclusive teaching base for faculties of the medical group. Likewise, the composition of the Teaching-Scientific Council allows for the complete dominance of KCUS in relation to the employees of the Faculty of Medicine.

Without amendments to the Law on Higher Education that address this issue, it will not be possible to resolve the situation at the Faculty of Medicine.

And precisely at the time when amendments to the Law in that segment were announced, and as the Rector explained - at the proposal of the Founder - the Minister of Education Zineta Bogunić resigned. Bogunić confirmed to Patria that her resignation has not yet been accepted, and that she is still on annual leave. Prime Minister Edin Forto promised to first talk to the minister who worked on improving all levels of education in Sarajevo. Konaković, in response to Bogunić's resignation, stated that he did not agree with the minister on everything, but that he had no complaints about her work. And it was precisely the Law on Higher Education that caused the rift.