Law on Cadastre and Property Registration is Harmful to All Citizens

A public forum on the topic "Reform of Regulations from the Property-Legal Area and Cadastre" was held today in the Municipality of Novi Grad Sarajevo, which pointed out the fact that the Draft Federal Law on Cadastre and Property Registration is in conflict with the European Charter of Local Self-Government, Article 8 of the Law on the Principles of Local Self-Government, reports the Patria News Agency.

It was emphasized that the adoption of this Law would cause the most damage to citizens, who would have to turn to the Canton to resolve issues from the property-legal area, instead of the local community, which handles these matters much more efficiently than cantonal and federal bodies. It was stressed that the Draft of this Law is particularly harmful to local self-government, as its provisions abolish the exclusive competencies of local self-governments, and it should not be supported.

The introductory speakers at the forum were Emir Bubalo, Mayor of Konjic Municipality and member of the Presidency of the Association of Municipalities and Cities of FBiH, and Jusuf Čaušević, Head of the Department for Property-Legal Affairs of the Municipality of Novi Grad Sarajevo. The forum was attended by the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament Edin Mušić, federal representatives Aiša Ćenanović, Safet Kešo, Muharem Fišo and Dževad Hodžić, Mayor of Novi Grad Municipality Semir Efendić, Speaker of the Municipal Council Novi Grad Edina Gabela, representatives of municipalities in FBiH, educational institutions, lawyers, legal experts, and numerous citizens.

The introductory speakers spoke about the ineffective reform of regulations in this area, which began with the adoption of the Land Registry Law in 2002, as well as the Law on Real Rights.

Mayor Bubalo spoke about the harmful consequences that the adoption of the new law, which is in draft form and undergoing public discussion, would cause. He emphasized that in addition to taking away competencies from the area of property-legal relations, the proposed Law on Cadastre and Property Registration abolishes very important competencies of municipalities, which are established as exclusive competencies of local self-governments by the Law on the Principles of Local Self-Government and the European Charter of Local Self-Government. According to the proposed Law, the federal body would have 15 competencies, the cantonal five, while the municipal body would be left with jurisdiction over only two areas: the cadastre of underground installations and the address register.

- The provisions of the Law on Cadastre and Property Registration in FBiH, which is in draft form and undergoing public discussion, stipulate that the cantonal administrative body will take over the management of land registry records instead of the competent courts, which allows for political influence on the registration of ownership rights and on the legal certainty of citizens.

Such a law would create distrust among citizens in the legal system. In no European Union country do cantonal bodies perform this task, as they do not exist, so the justification for adopting such a law cannot be sought in European regulations - stated Čaušević.

He emphasized that this would abolish the land registry office that keeps records of land registries (so-called grunt), which has existed in our country for over a hundred years.