Proposers do not give up despite different union stances: Can state police officers remain employed until age 60?

Proposers of amendments to the Law on Police Officers of BiH held two meetings today with representatives of unions from state police agencies.

MPs Nihad Omerović (NIP), Jasmin Imamović (SDP BiH), and Predrag Kojović (Naša stranka) also met with representatives of three unions last week, when they were told they did not agree with the proposed amendments to the law.

Petar Đukić from the SIPA Union today presented this union's stance to the MPs, stating they are against the proposed amendments to the law.

At the second meeting, also held with representatives of the Union of Unions of Police Bodies in BiH, the proposers were clearly informed that the Union is not unified and cannot give consent to the proposed amendments to the law.

However, the MPs have no intention of giving up, so the amendments to the law could be on the agenda as early as December 12. Compared to the proposal that was prepared, the number of years for remaining in service will be reduced from 65 to 60, and the director of a police body cannot choose who to extend their service for.

Given that police officers retire with 40 years of service, including beneficial service, the proposal is to extend the working lives of police officers who wish to do so even after they meet the conditions for retirement. The initial proposal of these three MPs was, apparently with the suggestion of certain police agency directors, to extend it to 65 years, which would actually benefit high-ranking officials sitting in offices, rather than police officers on the ground.

Although the discussion about amending the law was activated a few years ago, given that a larger number of police officers are retiring, and the recruitment and training of cadets cannot compensate for the missing personnel due to the limited capacity of the Agency for training and professional development of personnel, politics did not show understanding for this issue at the time. Police agency directors were also not overly interested in this, and it is interesting that even in recent days, in their responses to state MP Šemsudin Mehmedović, they did not point out that they have a problem with personnel who are retiring or will soon retire. When it comes to the directors of these agencies or their deputies, regardless of whether they meet the retirement conditions, the law has allowed them to remain until a new director is appointed, which can take a long time.

This is the current situation in SIPA, where Director Darko Ćulum's mandate expired in July 2024, and the Council of Ministers of BiH has never declared itself on the ranking list and appointment of a new director. In the meantime, Deputy Director Dragan Andrić was appointed, but regardless of that, due to a lack of political will, Ćulum remains the director even though he has met all the conditions for retirement and his mandate has expired.

If these amendments receive support in the House of Representatives of the PS BiH, it remains to be seen how these amendments will fare in the House of Peoples of the PS BiH.

A. Vrabac