Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH Hires Convicted Individuals and Those Under Criminal Investigation

The Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina, through a competition announced in October 2014, hired two individuals, one of whom has already been convicted of tax evasion and is also facing proceedings for organized crime, while the other is reportedly one of the suspects in the Kemal Čaušević and others case, Transparency International BiH announced today, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

The condition in the Law on Labor in BiH Institutions is that no criminal proceedings have been initiated against the candidate for a criminal offense punishable by three or more years of imprisonment, or that no prison sentence has been imposed for an intentional criminal offense, in accordance with the Criminal Code of BiH.  

In response to TI BiH's inquiry to the ITA regarding the hiring of these individuals, the ITA stated that the candidates submitted certificates stating that no criminal proceedings were pending against them, and that the individual in question was sentenced to a suspended sentence, and that only a prison sentence is an obstacle to employment.

However, the first questionable fact is that the ITA, in its competition announcement, requested only certificates of no pending criminal proceedings from candidates. This type of certificate cannot prove whether a person has been convicted of a criminal offense, and a certificate of good conduct/no prior convictions, issued by the competent police administration/station, should have been requested.

Secondly, according to information obtained by TI BiH from the Court of BiH, new criminal proceedings are underway against the same person who was previously convicted, at the BiH level, for organized crime. This individual submitted a certificate from the District Court in Banja Luka, which indicates that no proceedings are pending before that court, i.e., according to the jurisdiction of that court and the Criminal Code of Republika Srpska, but not the law of BiH.

TI BiH also requested information from the BiH Prosecutor's Office regarding the investigation against the second candidate, due to their connection to the Kemal Čaušević and others case, to determine whether the Prosecutor's Office had initiated criminal proceedings for an offense punishable by more than 3 years imprisonment, in which case this person could not have been employed in BiH institutions, but has not yet received a response.

This entire case, reported to TI BiH by an anonymous person, points to deficiencies in regulations and a lack of system integration in terms of data on pending criminal proceedings and convictions. More importantly, this example sends a worrying message to citizens that individuals under investigation and convicted individuals are given preference in employment, while other candidates, who also met the requirements and were not linked to criminal offenses, are denied employment opportunities.