Presentation of Guidelines for development of public consultation principles in the legislative drafting process

Within the EU funded project “Strengthening Law Enforcement” aiming at supporting efforts in the fight against organized crime, terrorism and corruption in BiH, on Wednesday 23 May, Guidelines for development of public consultation principles in the legislative drafting process were presented in Sarajevo to the representatives of law enforcement and civil society.

The Guidelines will assist law enforcement in BiH in establishing mechanisms for systematic Acquis harmonization process in the field of home affairs and the fight against crime and corruption. The public consultation process provides an institutional framework for active participation of citizenry in every phase of the process, i.e. from the regulatory initiative to the adoption of a law.

Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, Head of the EU Delegation to BiH and Special Representative, emphasized how important it is to work in a transparent way in the EU integration process, especially as regards law enforcement. He underlined the significance of the public consultation process.

“In addition to making the process more transparent and open to public scrutiny, the public consultation process also contributes to the enhancement of the quality of regulations and to the development of enforceable laws, thereby also contributing to one of the objectives of the EU-BiH policy dialogue on Public Administration Reform”, Ambassador Wigemark said.

The Guidelines, prepared under the Twinning Project and based on the best European Union member states practices, describe a “step-by-step” approach, from the planning of public consultations, selection of the level for consultation, analysis of the comments received, to the publication of reports once the process of public consultations is completed.

“The public consultations process has a strong anti-corruption aspect which makes it highly important in democratic societies. Citizens are and must be an active partner in the drafting of legal regulations, particularly in the fields which concern them directly. Security is surely one of those fields and must be fully transparent and accessible to citizens”, said Dragan Mektić, Minister of Security of BiH.

Project “Strengthening Law Enforcement” is implemented in BiH with the aim to further advance police service and strengthen cooperation, coordination and efficiency in the fight against organized crime, terrorism and corruption. This project is led by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Interior and the Agency for European Integration and Economic Development (AEI) in cooperation with the Ministries of Interior of Croatia and Slovenia and funded by the European Union in amount of EUR 4.5 million from the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA 2012).