Bosnian Ministry of Justice refused to publish the Draft Law on the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and thus continued to hide from the public one of the most important reform laws in the process of EU integration, Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina has warned.

Transparency International in BiH requested to see the Draft Law, which was removed from the agenda of the Council of Ministers of BiH several times, but the relevant ministry refused the request, referring to one of a number of restrictions from the new Law on Freedom of Access to Information.

TI BiH announced that this particular law was presented as one of the great successes that Bosnia and Herzegovina made on the European path, but numerous civil society organisations warned that it would enable the authorities to further hide the information of public importance, which was shown in this particular example.

“Specifically, in this case, the Ministry of Justice referred to the provision of the new law that allows institutions to limit access to information if its publication ‘could seriously damage the process of its creation’. However, the Ministry did not explain why the publication of the content could disrupt the process of passing such an important law, for which there is great public interest,” the TI BiH stressed, adding that the ministry should publish the document and invite interested parties to submit their written proposals and comments.

TI recalled that the original Draft Law on the Courts of BiH was published on an e-platform in 2022, but after that it was revised as a part of the working group and coalition agreements, and it was changed, placed and removed from the agenda of the Council of Ministers on several occasions.

“Instead of involving the public in the consultation process and enabling a public debate on such an important issue, the Draft Law is being hidden from citizens, without adequate explanation and a public interest test, while key decisions are made at closed coalition meetings. TI BiH has previously warned against the very harmful practice of the Council of Ministers of BiH to hide the content of the most important laws, to essentially change them at the sessions, and for the public to gain insight only when these laws are already referred to the parliamentary procedure,” TI BiH said.

TI BiH previously asked governments and parliaments at all levels of authority in BiH to publish materials for sessions, including draft laws, in order to enable the constructive participation of civil society and other stakeholders in the adoption of policies.