The Agency for Identification Documents, Records and Data Exchange of Bosnia and Herzegovina (IDDEEA) has continued providing qualified electronic certificates and is inviting citizens and legal entities to use the possibility of obtaining a free qualified electronic signature.
The move comes amid an ongoing legal dispute between IDDEEA and the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On June 12, the Personal Data Protection Agency issued a decision permanently prohibiting IDDEEA and the Indirect Taxation Administration from processing personal data for the purpose of issuing qualified electronic signatures.
However, on July 15, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina accepted IDDEEA’s request to postpone the execution of that decision until a final ruling is reached in the administrative dispute.
Qualified electronic signatures in Bosnia and Herzegovina can be issued by IDDEEA, the Indirect Taxation Administration, BH Post and Slovenian company Halcom. IDDEEA has been the only provider offering the service free of charge, and around 20,000 users have obtained its electronic certificates.
IDDEEA Director Almir Badnjević says the dispute is essentially about the fact that a state institution is providing a service to citizens free of charge.
“The essential problem and what bothers in principle in this whole story is IDDEEA and exactly what IDDEEA provides for free in the way that IDDEEA does it. And of course that bothers everyone. And of course if a state institution gives something to citizens for free, no one sees their own interest, and then we go and declare that it is a transfer of jurisdiction, that data is processed in the wrong way, etc.”
The court’s decision to postpone the enforcement of the Personal Data Protection Agency’s decision has also triggered political reactions.
In Republika Srpska, the decision has been described as an attack on the entity’s digital sovereignty.
RS Minister of Internal Affairs Željko Budimir said judicial institutions at the state level were being used to exert pressure on Republika Srpska.
“The use of appeals through the Constitutional Court, that system is the Constitutional Court, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the pressure on the RS through those judicial institutions. This is the tandem that should break what politics cannot do.”
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Minister of Communications and Transport Edin Forto, however, believes the decision of the Personal Data Protection Agency has a political background and represents an attempt to weaken state institutions.
“They are trying to derogate the state authority to the entities. This is exactly what we have been hearing from the RS for years that should not happen, which is the transfer of jurisdiction. It is they who are trying to transfer jurisdiction here.”
The Indirect Taxation Administration is also prohibited from continuing to issue qualified electronic certificates. Unlike IDDEEA, however, the administration has respected the decision of the Personal Data Protection Agency and did not initiate an administrative dispute before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Economic analyst Zoran Pavlović says electronic services should primarily make life easier for citizens and businesses rather than become another arena for political disputes.
“In this way, by not using the electronic system of communication and signatures, we are slowing down life. And that is a great pity. Both for the economy and for the people. The only problem with us is that everyone wants to be very smart or wants to be in the media, because being in the media implies that you may have a chance to get some voice.”
Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted its Law on Electronic Signature back in 2006, ahead of many countries in the region.
Yet, two decades later, the country remains behind its neighbors in the use of electronic services.
The dispute over qualified electronic signatures has therefore become more than a question of data processing and legal procedure. For citizens and businesses, the practical issue is whether digital services that can simplify everyday administrative and business procedures will remain accessible, affordable and fully functional.
