almanac on security sector oversight in the Western Balkans

Bosnia and Herzegovina
278
The work of parliamentary committees is constant and transparent. The data
we have acquired and regular annual reports by parliamentary committees,
published on the Parliamentary Assembly’s official website, testify that these
committees perform their work within the framework of relevant legal solutions,
utilizing all legally available types of control. The work of the Joint
Committee for Defence and Security and the Joint Committee for Oversight
over the Work of the Intelligence – Security Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
both established in 2004, should be singled out, as it is rated as quite good and
in accordance with the law and with democratic oversight over the security
sector. Nevertheless, cooperation of parliamentary committees with executive
bodies, and especially cooperation of the Joint Committee for Oversight over
the Work of OSA with the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is
currently below the required level and should be improved.
Analysis of the work of parliamentary committees indicates that their work has
altogether reached a satisfying level, especially considering the complicated
constitutional system of the state, which often appears as an obstacle to their
work. It is necessary to improve the public image of parliament, since the public
is rarely informed of the Parliamentary Assembly’s work and achievements.
Cooperation of parliamentary committees with civil society organizations and
the media has not yet reached a satisfactory level. Improving this cooperation
could increase public perception of parliament’s work.
Recommendations:
• In order to improve the legal framework, the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH
needs to adopt the Law on Parliamentary Oversight, currently in parliamentary
proceedings.
• Improve cooperation between the Parliamentary Committee for Oversight
over the Work of Intelligence – Security Agency BiH and the Executive Intelligence
Committee of the Council of Ministers.
• Enhance parliamentary committees’ administrative capacities and increase
their numbers of expert staff, especially on the entity level.
• By deepening co-ordination with civil society organizations, strive to improve
the public image of parliamentary committees in charge of overseeing security
actors.
GENERAL TRANSPARENCY grade: 2.5
Executive Summary
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a state with a fair amount of complex administrative
structures. As a result, this complexity has a negative impact on the transparency
of public administration, where, in spite of a very progressive Freedom of
Access to Information Act, there have been no decisive steps taken to enhance
accessibility of public institutions. No steps are being taken to enhance accessibility
of officials dealing with requests coming from the public and nongovernmental
sector. In a large number of cases, access to information held by public
administration is either not allowed or is limited due to the ignorance of public
officials and institutions to proper rules and procedures.
The Freedom of Access to Information Act, existing in three somewhat different
version at the state and two of the entities levels, was adopted in 2001 and