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The Committee takes note with interest of the information contained in the first report of the Government and, in particular, the adoption of the new Law on the Associations and Foundations of Bosnia and Herzegovina of 30 November 2001.

Article 2. Right of employers and workers, without distinction
whatsoever, to establish and join organizations of their own
choosing without previous authorization

Time limits. The Committee recalls that in its previous comments it had noted, pursuant to the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee on Freedom of Association in Case No. 2053, that the time limitations prescribed in the legislation for the registration of associations, including trade unions, were very short and were equivalent in practice to a system of previous authorization. In this respect, the Committee observes that although the recent Law on the Associations and Foundations of Bosnia and Herzegovina lifted the requirement that a registration request be filed within 15 days from an organization’s constituent assembly, sections 30(2), 34 and 35 of the new Law continue to lay down brief time limits in the context of changing the name or emblem of an association, making corrections to the statute of an association, completing a registration request or lodging a complaint against a decision to deny registration. The Committee further notes with concern that the consequences of exceeding such time limitations include the dissolution of the organization in question, or cancellation of its registration. It considers such a severe penalty totally disproportionate to a delay in meeting formal registration requirements. The Committee therefore requests that the Government take all necessary measures in the very near future in order to amend its legislation so as to provide more reasonable time limitations with respect to the registration of employers’ and workers’ organizations and to ensure that they shall not suffer disproportionate consequences as a result of a delayed request. It also requests that the Government transmit information in its next report concerning the measures taken in this respect and to indicate the current status of the Associated Workers’ Trade Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (URS/FBiH), the complainant in Case No. 2053.

Articles 2 and 5. Right of employers and workers to establish and
join organizations of their own choosing; right of employers’ and
workers’ organizations to establish federations and confederations

Employers’ organizations. The Committee notes the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee on Freedom of Association in Case No. 2140 concerning registration requirements which constitute obstacles to the establishment of employers’ confederations and the commencement of their activities at the level of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its two Entities (329th Report, November 2002, paragraphs 290-298). The Committee notes in particular that it is impossible to obtain the registration and legal recognition of an employers’ confederation at the level of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole. The Committee notes moreover that, at the level of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska, employers’ confederations can only obtain registration under the status of "citizens’ associations" which seriously impedes the commencement of their activities. The Committee recalls that the Convention covers both employers and workers and that, in accordance with Article 2, employers shall have the right to establish and, subject only to the rules of the organization concerned, join organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization (see General Survey of 1994 on freedom of association and collective bargaining, paragraph 63). The Committee requests the Government to take all necessary measures in the very near future to amend its legislation so as to ensure that employers’ confederations can obtain registration under a status conducive to the full and free development of their activities as employers’ organizations both at the level of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its two Entities. The Committee requests that the Government transmit information in its next report on measures taken in this respect and on the effective registration of the Employers’ Confederation of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the level of the Republic as a whole. The Committee also requests that the Government indicate the current status of the complainants in the abovementioned Case No. 2140, namely, the Employers of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Employers’ Confederation of Republika Srpska (SAVEZ POSLODAVACA).

The Committee trusts that the Government will fully take into account the abovementioned comments and draws the Government’s attention to the availability of ILO technical assistance in this respect.

The Committee is addressing a request on other points directly to the Government.