University of Sarajevo Trade Union: Unacceptable Law Amendments Without the Knowledge of the Academic Community

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The University of Sarajevo Trade Union has information that the Government of Sarajevo Canton, at its session held on July 18, 2019, considered amendments and additions to the Law on Higher Education as supplementary material, which was supposed to be sent to the Sarajevo Canton Assembly for urgent procedure. The amendments and additions to the Law are expected to be on the agenda of the KS Assembly scheduled for July 24, 2019, also as a supplementary item on the agenda.

This was announced today by the University of Sarajevo Trade Union, which criticizes the Government and Assembly of Sarajevo Canton, as stated, for "an attempt to amend and add to the Law on Higher Education, i.e., an attempt to use interventions in the law as an instrument for the realization of vindictive motives".

The statement emphasized that the amendments and additions to the Law on Higher Education relate to changes in the procedure for acquiring the status of a teaching base for healthcare institutions, as well as changes regarding the composition of the Teaching and Scientific Council of faculties and academies.

"The UNSA Trade Union believes that the issues addressed by the amendments and additions to the Law on Higher Education are of exceptional importance for the successful functioning and work of the University of Sarajevo and its members, and that any intervention in the current legal text requires the implementation of a serious and thorough public debate within the university community. Urgent amendments to legal regulations, which unfortunately is becoming a recognizable dimension in the functioning and work of the Government and Assembly of Sarajevo Canton, indicate that the field of higher education and scientific research still represents a great unknown for the proposers and lawmakers in Sarajevo Canton," the UNSA Trade Union statement said.

The Trade Union points out that this is confirmed by the fact that the Government of Sarajevo Canton has been dealing with amendments to the Law on Higher Education twice in the last few months, while individual cases and particular interests are being presented as a fight for systemic solutions and higher education in its entirety.

"However, through the analysis of the issues addressed by the amendments and additions to the Law on Higher Education, the UNSA Trade Union shows that it is actually a serious threat to the higher education system and the University of Sarajevo, with a tendency to use interventions in the Law as an instrument for the realization of vindictive motives."

The UNSA Trade Union is appalled by the fact that the law amendments are being made without the knowledge of the academic community and by denying the opportunity to participate in the process of drafting legal solutions, which is precisely what the urgent procedure for adopting laws ensures. The Trade Union states that they want to believe that such moves by the Government of Sarajevo Canton represent a temporary weakness, not a permanent characteristic in its functioning and work.

"The UNSA Trade Union considers it unacceptable to approach amendments to the Law on Higher Education hastily, without serious consultations with the university community, while the entire process is recognizable and marked by a subjective and voluntaristic approach. The UNSA Trade Union necessarily views such actions in the context of the recently adopted authentic interpretation of the Law on Higher Education, which has seriously jeopardized the institutional and academic autonomy of the University of Sarajevo. The hasty involvement of the Government and Assembly of Sarajevo Canton in regulating and standardizing professional issues of exceptional importance for the University of Sarajevo, without any consultations with the university community, represents a serious threat to the developmental potential of UNSA," the UNSA Trade Union announced.

In this regard, the UNSA Trade Union emphasized, the thoughtless and ill-conceived approach to regulating the composition of the Teaching and Scientific Council, as the highest professional body of faculties and academies, as well as defining the teaching bases where the teaching and scientific process can be conducted, inevitably jeopardizes the prerequisites for UNSA to confirm itself as a serious teaching and scientific research institution that should represent a leader in generating conditions for building a knowledge-based society and realizing the developmental potential of Sarajevo Canton.

"The UNSA Trade Union, without absolving anyone who participates in and supports such a legislative procedure, considers the Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton and the Speaker of the Canton Assembly, who are responsible for submitting materials to the Government and Assembly of the Canton for consideration, to be the most responsible. The UNSA Trade Union welcomes the move of certain members of the Government of Sarajevo Canton who were not willing to support hasty amendments and additions to the Law on Higher Education that were not supported by arguments and who requested a postponement of the decision of the Government of Sarajevo Canton until further consultations with the academic community, as well as the UNSA Trade Union," the statement reads.

The UNSA Trade Union appeals to the ministers in the Government and the deputies in the KS Assembly not to support ad hoc solutions but to insist on consultations with the academic community based on the principles of partnership, as well as with its leadership role and responsibility for the quality of legal solutions that should serve development, not stifle UNSA.

More expertise and less politics in the field of higher education is an opportunity not only for UNSA but also for those in power in Sarajevo Canton, the UNSA Trade Union concludes.