An emergency session of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina is scheduled for tomorrow, and the agenda should include, among other things, the Draft Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH and the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on the Court of BiH.
The proponents of these laws are members of the Collegium of the House of Peoples: Kemal Ademović, Dragan Čović and Nikola Špirić, and as previously stated, this is a version of the law that the Council of Ministers of BiH did not accept, and was proposed by the Ministry of Justice of BiH.
The proposed laws should be considered by the delegates in the first reading (principles), in an abbreviated procedure.
These are proposals for two laws whose adoption is one of the conditions for opening negotiations between BiH and the European Union.
The House of Peoples should also consider the principles (first reading) of the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Salaries and Remunerations in the Institutions of BiH, proposed by the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.
The proponents explained that the reason for the adoption of this law is to eliminate the current poor position of employees in the institutions of BiH – civil servants, employees, police and other officials, as well as professional military personnel, who have been harmed by the failure to pass the budget within the constitutional and legal deadlines.
It is also planned to consider a set of laws in the field of intellectual property marked ‘EI’, proposed by the Council of Ministers of BiH.
The Council of Ministers of BiH previously, at the proposal of the Institute for Intellectual Property of BiH, established four draft laws, namely on the protection of trade secrets as an intellectual property right, on the protection of topographies of semiconductor products, on patents, and on trademarks, with the aim of harmonizing them with the acquis communautaire of the European Union.
At the same time, individual draft laws on representation in the field of industrial property rights and on amendments to the Law on Industrial Design were established, which were submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH for consideration, given that they follow established laws for which there is an obligation to harmonize with the acquis communautaire of the EU.
The Draft Law on Units of Measurement in BiH, which the Council of Ministers of BiH had previously established in order to harmonize it with EU legislation in this area, should also be considered.
The delegates should also have before them the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Administrative Procedure, which was established by the Council of Ministers of BiH with the aim of ensuring the preconditions for the continuation of the digital transformation of public administration in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In accordance with the recommendations of the European Commission, the amendments to the Law will simplify and modernize the administrative procedure and shorten the time for providing services to citizens and business entities by introducing an obligation for the administrative body to obtain data on facts about which official records are kept, which is an important step forward for the process of public administration reform – the Council of Ministers of BiH stated earlier.
Delegate Džemal Smajić proposed an amendment to the Law on Service in the Armed Forces of BiH, explaining that, given the fact that the Armed Forces of BiH lacks a significant number of soldiers, he believes that it is necessary to increase the age limit for professional military service of soldiers in the Armed Forces of BiH as soon as possible.
The agenda should also include the Functioning of the Public RTV Service of BiH, and the approval of several international agreements and contracts.
Member of the House of Representatives of the state parliament Saša Magazinović today called on the delegates in the House of Peoples to include the amendment to the Law on Excise Duties on the agenda at tomorrow’s session and to adopt it without delay.
Magazinović recalled that the House of Representatives adopted a solution by a large majority of votes that allows the Council of Ministers of BiH to temporarily reduce or abolish excise duties on petroleum products in conditions of market disruption. This, he stated, is a concrete missing mechanism for a quick reaction in order to stop the sudden increase in fuel prices that we are witnessing, but also to protect the standard of living of citizens and preserve the economy.
At its session on March 16, the House of Representatives adopted, under an urgent procedure, the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Excise Duties in BiH, proposed by MP Saša Magazinović.
Along with this Draft Law, two conclusions were adopted. One is that the House of Representatives submit the draft of this law to the House of Peoples and requests that it be considered under an urgent legislative procedure.
In the second conclusion, the House of Representatives calls on the House of Peoples to consider the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Excise Duties in BiH as soon as possible, taking into account the serious disruptions in the oil derivatives market, their direct consequences for the economy and citizens, and the uncertainty and unpredictability of future market developments.
