UIO BiH: We have no evidence that convicted persons were hired

Due to media inquiries regarding the statement of Transparency International BiH, about the hiring of employees in the Indirect Taxation Authority (UIO) based on the competition from 31.10.2014, the Indirect Taxation Authority has also made a statement, reports the Patria News Agency.

We are transmitting the UIOBIH statement in its entirety:

In the public advertisement of the Indirect Taxation Authority, published on 31.10.2014, for which 112 positions requiring secondary education were announced, Novo Đukić and Mišo Novković were hired, among others.

Like all other candidates who entered the competition procedure, the two mentioned individuals had to submit, among other things, a certificate stating that no criminal proceedings were being conducted against them, thereby fulfilling all formal legal conditions for participating in the competition, along with all other properly submitted documentation.

After the UIO commission conducted written and oral testing, the mentioned individuals were on the list of successful candidates, and they started working at the UIO.

We particularly point out the completely incorrect and false claims in the statement of Transparency International BiH, which states in its announcement that the UIO, in addition to the certificate that no criminal proceedings were being conducted against the candidates in the mentioned competition, "should have also requested a certificate of good conduct/non-conviction issued by the competent police administration/station." In this regard, along with this statement from the UIO, we are also providing to all media, as well as Transparency International BiH, the opinion of the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data in BiH, which unequivocally indicates that BiH institutions, in accordance with valid legal regulations, do not have the right to request a certificate of non-conviction from citizens for the purpose of applying for a competition or job advertisement.

All documentation related to the mentioned Public Competition is available at the Indirect Taxation Authority, which is completely transparent, and all competent institutions can inspect it. If the Indirect Taxation Authority receives any evidence from any judicial institution in BiH that would potentially influence a different decision in the mentioned public competition, the UIO will take all legally prescribed steps, according to the statement from UIOBiH.