BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA | 10 years since the adoption of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina, No. 59/09). Although the principle of equality and non-discrimination is an integral part of all treaties and human rights declarations, as well as the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Article II, paragraph 4), the significance of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination is immeasurable. The law defines the legal and institutional framework for combating discrimination in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the institution of the Ombudsman for Human Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been entrusted with the status of a "central institution responsible for protection against discrimination". Some progress has been made, but key mechanisms and institutional actors still face numerous challenges and problems.

Amendments to the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination of 2016 (Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina, No. 66/16) enhanced the legal framework for the protection against discrimination. Amendments to the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination foreseen a significantly higher role of the Ombudsperson in the activities of promoting anti-discrimination protection, which is reflected in informing the public, raising awareness, conducting campaigns and other forms of prevention of discrimination (Article 7, paragraph 2, item 1). Although the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination in 2009, even before the amendments (Article 7, paragraph 5), there is an obligation to have a special budget item for the work of Department for Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination. To this day, therefore 10 years after the legal obligations, it has not been implemented. Limiting the financial and personnel capacities of the Department did not significantly affect the work on individual complaints of citizens, but to a certain extent limited the exercise of other legally entrusted competences, such as proactive and preventive action in relation to the occurrence of discrimination.

In the year 2019, the Ombudsperson Institution plans to carry out a series of activities to mark the ten years since the adoption of the Law, and the focus will be on proactive action, promotion of tolerance and the suppression of discrimination.

Source: The Institution of Human Rights Ombudsman of Bosnia and Herzegovina