When it comes to state property, the authorities in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) often try to take over state jurisdiction. There are many examples of attempts by all authorities in this entity to legalize the sale of state property. However, few want to talk about it, make accusations, or try to prevent such intentions. But, those who want to sell state property have a mitigating circumstance because a register of state property does not exist in our country.
Namely, the sale of 330 thousand square meters of land in the Municipality of Grude was discussed by municipal councilors a few months ago at one of the sessions. As a justification, they mentioned the realization of valuable investments. There would be nothing to dispute that it was not a sale of state-owned land. This was pointed out by some of the councilors.
“By inspecting the land registry documents, it is clear that this land is treated as forest land and it is not owned by the Municipality of Grude, but registered as state property, and theParliamentary Assembly of BiH (PABiH) has never passed a law regulating the use of state land,” noted Vlado Rasic, SDP councilor in the Grude Municipal Council.
The verdicts are binding, not only for the Republika Srpska (RS)but also for the FBiH. State property is protected by the Law on Temporary Prohibition of Disposal of State Property, emphasized Larisa Velic, a professor at the UNZE Faculty of Law, but there are examples in the Federation where a canton, like the West Herzegovina Canton, decides to declare state property cantonal.
“The Constitutional Court of the Federation, since it is a decision, refused to make a decision on that issue, so it did not comment, but we have decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH that are quite clear, and what applies to RS also applies to the Federation. It means that the issue of state property can be resolved and regulated at the level of BiH, ” pointed out Velic.
An immovable state property consists of rivers, forests, construction and agricultural land, military property, and numerous real estate and facilities. So, if the sale of state property is prohibited to the RS, it should not be allowed in the FBiH either. Precisely because of the sale of agricultural land, in the Federal Parliament, the SDP launched an initiative to amend the Law on Agricultural Land, because the current one is not in accordance with the verdicts. They didn’t want to talk about the exact location.
Experts say the problem and sporadic court proceedings are related to usucaption. The decision of the Supreme Court of the FBiH from 1995 says that the right of ownership over state property, ie certain property can be acquired through usucaptionfor a period of 10 or 20 years.
“However, this Law on Temporary Prohibition of Disposal of State Property applies to all these properties, and according to that law, those properties should not be the subject of any court proceedings at all, but the fact is that this is still happening,” toldprofessor Velic.
Thus, the experts conclude that state property must remain the property of BiH, and the state can only determine the right forentities or cantons to use it.
