Police unions strongly oppose amendments to the Law on Police Officers of FBiH: Who is in a hurry for pensioners to remain in the FUP?

By: Amra Vrabac

The House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament, scheduled for January 19 and 20, is expected to consider the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Police Officers of the Federation of BiH under an urgent procedure.

At the end of last year, and in the days leading up to the session, police unions have been vocal in opposing the proposed amendments. It is no secret that there are individuals within the Federal Police Administration for whom this law would be very beneficial, but the representative unions are strongly opposed due to the lack of social dialogue.

The Union of Independent Police Unions of FBiH also held an extraordinary session at the end of December, at which it adopted several conclusions and took the stance that they oppose the amendments to the Law on Police Officers.

They also believe that the police should not be divided into privileged and others, and the proposed amendments do not solve the systemic problem but rather open the door for exceptions and privileges. They also requested that the law be withdrawn from the session.

“The Union of Independent Police Unions of the Federation of BiH, as a representative union, proposes a solution that, in addition to the existing conditions for termination of employment for retirement, introduces an age limit of 55 years, which is identical to the solution in the other BiH entity and is acceptable to union members as a condition, while allowing for the termination of employment at the personal request of a police officer if they meet the conditions for retirement due to 40 years of insurance service, regardless of age, in accordance with the current provisions of the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance,” one of the conclusions states.

The proposed amendments to the law extend the working life to 65 years, which is unacceptable to police officers, and therefore they question who will truly benefit from such legal changes.

It should be recalled that the state unions of police agencies (SIPA, DKPT, GP BiH) also protested when a proposal to amend the Law on Police Officers of BiH was suddenly introduced into parliamentary procedure at the end of 2025, with proponents from the Trojka parties stating 65 years as the upper limit. After the unions' criticism, the proponents changed the proposal and lowered it to 60 years of age, which is also unacceptable to police officers.

According to the proposed amendments and additions determined by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of FBiH, headed by Minister Ram Isak, as well as several individuals within the FUP itself, in addition to extending the age limit for retirement, so-called “extraordinary promotion” is also foreseen, and the decision is made by the head of the police body who also forms the commission that will conduct the promotion. It is specified that extraordinary promotion can be carried out once during a professional career.

Furthermore, the head is the one who decides whether a police officer remains employed, i.e., whether there is a need to extend employment beyond fulfilling the conditions for retirement. The validity of this law is planned until December 31, 2027.

The explanation of the law states that a larger part of the FUP police officers will meet the conditions for termination of employment due to age retirement during 2025, 2026, and 2027, which is approximately one-third of the employees, and this cannot be compensated even by promotions because there are not enough police officers in the rank of senior inspector who could be promoted to independent, nor independent officers who could be promoted to chief inspector.

What should have been the regular job and concern of the FUP director and those who have managed this police agency in recent years is now being attempted to be compensated by law, so it is clear why the unions' criticism is justified, as everything resembles “saving a few individuals.” It is evident that promotion procedures were rare and insufficient to narrow the competition for certain positions, leading to a personnel imbalance.

The amendments to the law also allow for the transfer of police officers from cantonal ministries of internal affairs in all ranks, and the same will apply to employment in the rank of “police officer” and “junior inspector.”

The Union of Judicial Police in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina also issued a statement, considering that the amendments to the Law on Police Officers of FBiH are not based on the principles of equality, fairness, and systemic organization of police service, and this law also applies to judicial police officers of the FBiH.

They emphasize that “the proposed amendments to the law, as presented to the public, exclusively benefit individuals, allowing the continuation of employment until the age of 65 only for certain categories or persons, while other police officers are placed in an unequal position.”

“We believe that the consideration and potential adoption of such an important systemic law under an urgent procedure would create serious legal uncertainty within the security system of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with long-term negative consequences for the functioning of police structures and the trust of police officers in the legislative framework,” the Union concludes in a statement signed by President Alen Pozder.

Although the Minister of Justice of FBiH, Vedran Škobić, did not give a positive opinion earlier, it is questionable whether anything has changed in the meantime and whether the position of the director of the Federal Police Administration is also involved in all of this. The Independent Board has announced a new competition for the director and deputy director after not enough applications were received in the December competition to continue the procedure.