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COMMITTEE of MINISTERS of EUROPE DE L'europe Committee of Ministers SECRÉTARIAT DU COMITE DES MINISTRES Comité Des Ministres

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COMMITTEE of MINISTERS of EUROPE DE L'europe Committee of Ministers SECRÉTARIAT DU COMITE DES MINISTRES Comité Des Ministres SECRETARIAT GENERAL COUNCIL CONSEIL SECRETARIAT OF THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS OF EUROPE DE L'EUROPE Committee of Ministers SECRÉTARIAT DU COMITE DES MINISTRES Comité des Ministres Contact: Simon Palmer Tel: 03.88.41.26.12 Date: 27/04/2010 DH - DD(2010)224 Item reference: Communication from an NGO in the case of Suljagic against Bosnia and Herzegovina (Application No. 27912/02) and response of the Government. Information made available under Rule 9.3 of the Rules of the Committee of Ministers for the supervision of the execution of judgments. Référence du point Communication : par une ONG dans l'affaire Suljagic contre Bosnie-Herzégovine (Requête n° 27912/02) et observations du gouvernement (anglais uniquement). Informations mises à disposition en vertu de la Règle 9.3 des Règles du Comité des Ministres pour la surveillance de l’exécution des arrêts. This document will be declassified after the 1086th DH meeting, in accordance with Rule 8 (Access to information) of the rules of the Committee of Ministers for the supervision of the execution of judgments and of the terms of friendly settlements. Ce document sera déclassifié à l’issue de la 1086e réunion DH conformément à la règle 8 (Accès aux informations) des Règles du Comité des Ministres pour la surveillance de l'exécution des arrêts et des termes des règlements amiables In the application of Article 21 b of the rules of procedure of the Committee of Ministers, it is understood that distribution of documents at the request of a Representative shall be under the sole responsibility of the said Representative, without prejudice to the legal or political position of the Committee of Ministers (CM/Del/Dec(2001 )772/1.4). / Dans le cadre de (application de l'article 21 b du Règlement intérieur du Comité des Ministres, il est entendu que la distribution de documents à la demande d'un représentant se fait sous la seule responsabilité dudit représentant, sans préjuger de la position juridique ou politique du Comité des Ministres CM/Del/Dec(2001 )772/1.4). ASSOCIATION FOR PROTECTION OF PRE-WAR HARD CURRENCY SAVINGS DEPOSITORS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA Council of Europe Committee of Ministres Avenue de l'Europe COMITE DES MINISTRES F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex D G - H L FRANCE 2 9 JAN. 2010 ENREGISTRE N ' ' j - 1 FEV. 2010 Transmis le Sarajevo, January 27,2010 i SERVICE DE L’EXECUTION D E S A R R E T S DE LA C FD H Re: Execution of the Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Suljagic v. Bosnia and Herzegovina AP No: 27912/02 The depositors from Bosnia and Herzegovina hereby extend their satisfaction over the fact that European Court oi Human Rights found Bosnia and Herzegovina systematically violating their rights, and declaring the Suljagic Judgment as pilot-judgment to provide for the speediest and most effective resolution of a dysfunction in the national legal order. Pursuant to the Rule 9 of the “Rules o f the Committee o f Ministers for the supervision of the execution of judgments and of the terms of friendly settlements“, the Association for protection of hard currency depositors in Bosnia arid Herzegovina - a non-governmental organization involved in the above-mentioned case as a third party, would hereby like to identify the problems the depositors are facing and the ways to resolve them. The laws of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Srpska and Brco District, disputed the right of the depositors to enjoy their property and the right to court protection! 1 his was also established by the Human Rights Chamber in Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the (Chamber's decisions made between 2000 and 2003, Bosnia and Herzegovina was found responsible for failing to take any step whatsoever to protect the depositors. The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina found in 2005 that the responsibility for the violation oi the depositors’ right to their property rests upon the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and annulled the Entities’ and Brcko District’s laws turning the pre-war savings into public debt of aforesaid legal entities and ordered the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina to pass the law to protect the rights of the depositors. (Decision U 14/05 of December 2, 2005) Decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH is binding and failure to execute it implies criminal liability. Parliamentary Assembly oi BiH passed the Law of settlement of the liabilities related to pre­ war hard currency savings “Official Journal of BiH 28/06 of April 14. 2006" (hereinafter referred to as State Law). By this State Law, Bosnia and Herzegovina has undertaken the responsibility for the settlement of the liabilities related to pre-war hard currency savings (Article 1, paragraph 1 of the State Law). It offered the depositors to repay their funds on behalf of the banks, as per terms and conditions defined under the State Law, namely 1000 KM (convertible marks) in cash, and the remaining sum in bonds (Article 18 and Article 21 of the State Law). The funds needed to settle the Habilites of Bosnia and Herzegovina undertaken in such a way, shall be provided by the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Srpska and Brcko District (Article 1, paragraph 2 of the State Law) scheduled according to the seat of the bank, or branch office of the bank the hard currency account was opened at. This solution is not in conformity with Aticle 1, paragraph 4 of the BiH Constitution. The greatest amount of liabilities rests upon the Federation of Bosnia and Herzetovina. The change of the debtor and liability settlement Bosnia and Herzegovina undertook from the banks, had been preceded by the claim verification procedure (Article 1, paragraph 5 of the State Law). The claim verification execution by-laws are passed by the Entities and Brcko District instead of the Council of Ministers (CoM BiH) which was going to become, in execution of the State Law, the main instrument of the Ministry of Finance of the BiH Federation Government to eliminate those depositors whose refund depends on the assets to be provided by the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. (See Item 14). The amendments to the State Law extended the claim verification deadline for depositors until September 30, 2007. (Article 17 of the State Law). The depositors who failed to verify their savings, were supposed to have their rights protected in court. The liabilities related to pre-war hard currency accounts not verified pursuant to the State Law and executive by-laws of the Entities and Brcko District could be established and proved in a judicial procedure only (Article 5 of the State Law). This right is disputed by the courts. (See Item 15). The claim verification is implemented by the three agencies (Article 7 of the State Law). Verification is done at the seat of the bank or branch office of the bank the hard currency acocunt was initially opened at (Article 11 of the State Law), which created additional problems and inflicted significant travel costs upon depositors. It is a well-known fact that the war caused massive population displacements and the Annex 7 of the Dayton Agreement - Return of the displaced has not been implemented as yet. In addition, nearly one million of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina live as refugees abroad. One of the preconditions for the claim verification is for the savings owner to have his/her own active KM account with a bank in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The banking agency does not permit opening of such accounts based on power of attorney. The payment for the verified savings was supposed to be up to 1,000 KM in cash till the end of 2007, and the remaining amount in bonds due as of December 31, 2016 (Aritcle 21, paragraph a) of the State Law) The bonds for the verified hard currency savings are to be issued by Bosnia and Herzegovina on behalf of the Entities and Brcko District (Article 23, paragraph 1 of the State Law). The principal and interests are paid out of the portions of the single account of the Treasury of Bosnia and Herzegovina pertaining to the Entities and Brcko District. The bond emission deadline was set at March 31, 2008 (Article 21, paragraph 1(a) of the State Law). A special escrow account and the debt servicing account related to pre-war hard currency savings bonds were about to be opened with the Central bank. These accounts are run by the Ministry of Finance and Treasury of Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Article 23, paragraph 2 of the State Law). Central bank is in charge of keeping the official register of bond ownership and to issuing hard-copy receipts certifying the ownership of the bonds for each person holding such right (Article 22 of the State Law). The settlement of the pre-war hard currency savings under Article 23, paragraph 2 of the State Law is guaranteed by Bosnia and Herzegovina, pursuant to the Law of loan taking, debts and guarantees of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Article 23, paragraph 4 of the State Law). The two Laws of changes and amendments to the State Law have been passed. The first one, "Official Journal of BiH 76/06 of September 25, 2006" revoked the provision stating that the depositor may not file a complaint once he receives 1,000 KM in cash. The second, “Official Journal of BiH 72/07 of September 26, 2007” stipulates that the settlement of the pre-war hard currency savings is of the same priority as the settlement of the foreign debt-related liabilities (Article 23 of the State Law), and the funds to be used to settle those liabilities shall include the funds received in a succession of SFRY and other assets at the disposal of Bosnia and Herzegovina, all pursuant to the decisions of the Council of Ministers (CoM BiH) (amendments to Article 1 of the State Law).
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