Bosnia and Herzegovina

International Family Law Conference in Mostar

Details
Published: June 17, 2021
Graphics: IRZ
Graphics: IRZ
Bosnia and Herzegovina

The ninth “Family Law” day was held in Mostar on 10 June 2021. The event, organised by IRZ together with the Faculty of Law at Džemal Bijedić University, had been shortened to a one-day online event due to the pandemic. The international conference traditionally addresses lawyers from various succession states of former Yugoslavia with an interest in family law. This year, the focus was on current issues in family law theory and practice. The background for this choice of topic was the influence of societal and social changes on family law, e.g.:

  • migration,
  • emigration,
  • ageing population,
  • falling birth rates,
  • the growing number of bi-national marriages, especially in the closely linked West Balkan countries, as well as
  • the new possibilities of reproductive medicine.

The family law conference involved around 50 participants from both entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as from Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. The goal of facilitating exchange between practising legal experts and academics was achieved, as the conference was attended by:

  • legal academics,
  • members of the judiciary,
  • notaries,
  • lawyers and
  • employees of public authorities.

After the conference was opened by the Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Dr. Alena Huseinbegović, and Dr. Stefan Pürner for IRZ, more than twenty speakers spoke on a wide range of topics. The German expert representing IRZ, Dr Karolina Mihaljevic-Schulze, a lawyer from Berlin of Croatian origin, spoke in the national language, focusing in particular on questions of parentage law in LGBT families from the perspective of the case law of the Federal Court of Justice.

To ensure the sustainability of the event, the conference papers will be printed in the Faculty Yearbook and will also be available online

The importance of the conference was also underlined by the fact that the Minister for Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the host canton Herzegovina-Neretva, Prof. Dr. Rašid Hadžović, did not miss the opportunity to open the event. In his welcoming address, he explicitly emphasised the long-standing fruitful cooperation between the faculty and IRZ.

The positive media response was also encouraging: Mostar bio domaćin konferencije ''Dani obiteljskog prava''. 

Seminar on the “rights of refugees”

Details
Published: June 8, 2021
Graphics: IRZ
Graphics: IRZ
Bosnia and Herzegovina

On 27 May 2021, the legal aid organisation Vaša Prava, in cooperation with IRZ, organised a seminar on the rights of refugees. The 25 participants working with refugees came from non-governmental organisations, the Ombudsman's office and various ministries.

During the first part of the event, lawyer Amra Kadrić, who advises refugees on behalf of Vaša Prava, presented the current situation. She explained that hardly any reliable figures on refugees in the country were available, due to the geographical location of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a transit country and the irregularity of entries and exits. During her lecture, she also addressed the violation of refugees’ rights. She talked about the fact that many refugees who were entitled to asylum were only granted subsidiary protection and that there were problems concerning the granting of rights to education. However, Amra Kadrić also stressed the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina's legislation is strongly oriented towards European standards.

During the second part of the event, lawyer Holger Hembach presented the legal status of refugees on the basis of international and regional conventions. As a former OSCE staff member in the field of human rights in the Western Balkans and author of a reference book on appeals submitted to the ECtHR, Holger Hembach is a proven expert in this field. He also represents clients at the ECtHR. The participants in the seminar were particularly interested in the following explanations:

  • the decisions of international courts on the treatment of refugees in transit zones,
  • restrictions on the freedom of movement of refugees and
  • a judgement from the ECtHR on the issue of application for asylum.

During the lively discussions, the participants emphasised that despite significant problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina, there still exists a humane way of dealing with refugees. In his closing remarks, the Managing Director of Vaša Prava, Emir Prcanović, also emphasised that much more could be achieved if everyone pulled together.

Further training for judges on topics relevant to the economy

Details
Published: May 14, 2021
Graphics: IRZ
Graphics: IRZ
Bosnia and Herzegovina

A whole range of legal issues, which are also relevant to the business community, were addressed in a two-day online seminar on 6 and 7 May 2021. The event was organised by the Centre for Judicial and Prosecutorial Training of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and IRZ. Around 100 judges from all parts of the country took part.

The background to this is the implementation of the Property Law Act passed in 2013, which replaced numerous legal institutions still originating from socialism. The new legal institutions have partly been modelled on German and Austrian ones, e.g. real estate property and land charges.

The speakers at the seminar were Professor Dr Meliha Povlakić and lecturer Dr Darija Softić Kadenić. Both have not only completed numerous research stays in German-speaking countries, but are also active as legal advisers and experts. Professor Povlakić also worked in a notary's office in Munich during a stay of several years in Germany, while Dr Softić Kadenić completed a master's degree at the Faculty of Law in Graz.

Because of the thematic connection, questions of credit security were also discussed in addition to questions of property law on real estate property and the function of the land register.

Since the speakers brought in judgements from national practice in addition to comparative law experiences, the event provided an opportunity for exchange between practising legal experts and academics. This exchange of opinions and materials was continued after the event by some participants via email.

The relevance of the topics discussed was also demonstrated by the lively discussions between all the participants.