almanac on security sector oversight in the Western Balkans

An institution that best exemplifies the role of civilian democratic control is the Parliamentary
Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its competent committees. Provisions
of the Dayton Peace Agreement allocated all competences for parliamentary
control over the security sector to entity parliaments. With the reform processes and
establishment of state-level security institutions it became necessary to establish parliamentary
bodies for oversight over the work of security institutions at the state level.
As mentioned previously, two committees were established within the Parliamentary
Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina: the Joint Committee for Defence and Security
and the Joint Security and Intelligence Committee on Supervision of the Work of the
Intelligence and Security Agency (OSA). The Joint Committee for Defence and Security,
established in 2003, was assigned, among other tasks, to monitor implementation of
the security and defence policy of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 37 The Joint Committee for
Supervision of the Work of the OSA was established in April 2004, assigned to, inter
alia, oversee the legality of the work of the OSA, give opinions on appointment of
directors, scrutinise reports of the Chair of the Council of Ministers on his oversight
competences, etc. 38 Both committees are very active in asserting democratic control. 39
Along with these two state-level committees, there are still entity level committees
dealing with oversight and control over the work of entity police forces. In Republika
Srpska, there is the Safety Board of the People’s Assembly, while in the parliament
of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina there is the Committee for Security.
The Committee for Security and Oversight over the Police Forces at the Assembly of
Brčko District is in charge of democratic oversight over the Police of Brčko District. In
addition, a special law on parliamentary control is currently being drafted, aimed at
organising this domain in a more comprehensive manner. 40
2 . Internal oversight in security sector bodies & governing
ministries
54
2.1. Executive
Executive control over the security sector is regulated by laws and regulation, which
establish control over the functioning of institutions, respect for human rights, and
control of budgetary expenditures. Apart from these bodies within the security institutions,
each ministry has inspectorates or departments in charge of monitoring the
work of these institutions.
The executive has set up a number of internal oversight mechanisms that work alongside
the different security sectors. These internal control bodies are usually called
37 http://parlament.ba/komisija/1/0/32.html, accessed on 7 May 2010.
38 http://parlament.ba/komisija/1/0/33.html , accessed on 7 May 2010.
39 For more information please see http://www.parlament.ba/sadrzaj/komisije/zajednicke_komisije/
odbrana/izvjestaji_o_radu/Default.aspx?id=30426&langTag=bs-BA , accessed on 4 June 2011.
40 For more details on proposition of the law see http://www.parlament.ba/sadrzaj/zakonodavstvo/u_
proceduri/default.aspx?id=27028&langTag=bs-BA accessed on 5 June 2011.