Public Opinion Poll on citizens' view on constitutional reform, commissioned in July 2013 within the project “Constitutional Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Engaging Civil Society"

1. CITIZENS OPINION ON
STATE-LEVEL CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM
in Bosnia and Herzegovina
1000 CITIZENS
20
QUESTIONS
2013
JULY
98.5%OF PEOPLE THINK
Justice sector
should be addressed in state-level
constitutional reform.
98.6%
97.6%
98.9%
100%
BOSNIAKS
SERBS
CROATS
OTHERS
Problems identified by the Venice Commission
(Opinion on Legal Certainty and the Independence of the Judiciary
in Bosnia and Herzegovina, June 2012)
A well-functioning justice system could better investigate and prosecute
high-level corruption.
2007 2010
The EU has repeatedly recommended the establishment of a state-level
Supreme Court that could harmonize application of legislation across
the four jurisdictions:
- State-level,
- Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
- Republika Srpska,
- Brcko District.
(EU Progress Reports 2007 - 2010)
Citizens REJECT the CURRENT FRAGMENTATION OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM.
They understand the importance of having MORE GUIDANCE AND OVERSIGHT from a
STATE-LEVEL INSTITUTION such as a Supreme Court of BIH.
A STATE-LEVEL FIGHT AGAINST CRIME AND CORRUPTION would be more
effective in addressing corruption, the country’s biggest problem.
JUSTICE
Areas that
are regulated by
one system and
not by the other:
- The introduction of
inheritance laws in Republika
Srpska that have no
equivalence in the Federation
BiH.
Political pressure
on
the judiciary.
There are
commercial
courts in the
Republika Srpska
but
not in the
Federation BiH.
Access to
justice and equality
before the law
are not guaranteed.
Problems identified by the
EU Progress Reports for BIH
C r i m e
a n d
C o r r u p t i o n
Identical laws
interpreted in different ways:
- There is a single law on medication in BiH
regulating the reimbursement for the
medication that is recorded on a drug list, but
the method of composing this drug list differs
substantively between the Entities, and even
among the cantons.
The result is different prices for
pharmaceutical drugs.
ENTITY 12.2%
CITIZENS
want crime and
corruption to be
addressed at the
level of:
C
A
N
TO
N
2.4%
MUNICIPALITY 3.1%
ST
A
T
E
7 9 . 6 %
D i f f e r e n t
regulations of the same
type of laws:
- In the absence of a common definition,
crimes in one Entity can be considered as not
being crimes in the other Entity.
- Women on maternity leave, working for
the same state institution but living in
different Entities, are treated
differently.
COURT OF BiH
Supreme Court of FBiH Supreme Court of RSNO BIH SUPREME COURT
10 CANTONAL COURTS
2 ENTITY COURTS + BRCKO DISTRICT COURT
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF BiH