- Federal Prosecutor’s Office upheld TI BiH complaint
- In the disputed competition, a candidate was selected “secretly,” thereby depriving other candidates of the right to appeal
- Case returned to the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office KS for renewed proceedings
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office of the Federation of BiH upheld the complaint by Transparency International in BiH and annulled the order not to conduct an investigation in the case of rigging a competition at the Oriental Institute of the University of Sarajevo. TI BiH filed a criminal complaint in this case back in 2019 because this Institute conducted a public competition for hiring a librarian in a manner that “secretly” selected the best candidate, while other candidates were not informed of the selection for a full nine months, thereby depriving them of the right to file an appeal.
Due to such unlawful conduct, other candidates were placed in an unenviable position, and following TI BiH’s action, the Cantonal Educational Inspection also acted, establishing irregularities and ordering administrative measures and issuing misdemeanor orders. Additionally, the Institution of the Ombudsman for Human Rights of BiH issued a Recommendation to the Oriental Institute to annul this competition and conduct a new one, guided by the principles of equal opportunities for all candidates.
Although TI BiH provided all evidence to the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office KS in this case, an order not to conduct an investigation was issued in 2022. TI BiH filed a complaint, which was upheld by the decision of the chief prosecutor of the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office KS and the case was returned to the acting prosecutor. However, after renewed proceedings, prosecutor Jasmina Čaušević decided in August last year that no investigation would be conducted.
TI BiH again filed a complaint which the chief prosecutor rejected, prompting a request to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office of the Federation of BiH to review this decision. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office upheld the complaint and concluded that the facts in this case were not properly established.
– We reviewed the submitted file, and after detailed analysis of all documentation, although a series of evidentiary actions were conducted, it was concluded that the final decision of the acting cantonal prosecutor from 29.08.2023 is, for now, premature, because the factual situation is not completely and properly established, and certain erroneous conclusions were drawn, accordingly, the correctness of the application of the Criminal Code of FBiH is also questionable, states the decision of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office delivered to TI BiH.
This is the second TI BiH complaint against cantonal prosecutor’s office decisions that the Federal Prosecutor’s Office has upheld recently. Previously, the decision of the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office of the Central Bosnia Canton (SBK) not to conduct an investigation against responsible persons for non-payment of concession fees worth over 1.7 million KM was annulled.
Through such action, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office exercises its legal authority to supervise the work of cantonal prosecutor’s offices, which is particularly significant given the numerous questionable decisions on criminal complaints by TI BiH that have been made in recent years.
