GOVERNMENT TO INITIATE CONSTITUTIONALITY REVIEW OF THE FBiH LAW ON LAND REGISTERS

BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 4 /SRNA/ – The Republika Srpska Government will initiate proceedings to review the constitutionality of the FBiH Law on Land Registers due to identified irregularities in property registration procedures and the failure to inform parties involved in the process, reads one of the conclusions of the Interdepartmental Working Group formed by the Srpska Government to protect the property rights of Serbs in the FBiH and to provide legal support to the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Republika Srpska Minister of Justice Goran Selak stated at a press conference, following the first meeting of the Interdepartmental Working Group, that as of today this body will be in permanent session, and that representatives of SOC dioceses in BiH, as well as representatives of the Committee protecting Serbs in the Federation of BiH, will be invited to future meetings. "In addition to initiating proceedings reviewing the constitutionality of the Law on Land Registers, the Republika Srpska Administration for Geodetic and Property-Legal Affairs will expand its support capacities for Serbs in the FBiH, the Bar Association will call on lawyers to make themselves available to the SOC and the Serb people, and we will undertake other activities to protect Serb-owned property," Selak said. He emphasized that Republika Srpska has proven today that it will respond and will not merely be an observer of what is happening to the Serb people in the FBiH. On the other hand, Selak noted, Republika Srpska has never created problems when it comes to religious sites or cemeteries of other peoples on its territory. Selak announced that he will request a meeting with ministers of justice at the level of BiH, the entities, and the cantons, calling on all institutions in the FBiH to once again take care and correct illegalities related to property registration. Republika Srpska Government Secretary General Dalibor Panić said that the Government has formed the broadest possible front to protect the property of Serbs in the FBiH. He stated that Republika Srpska aligned its records long before the FBiH did, but there was no need to form any body in this entity to protect anyone’s property on the territory of Republika Srpska, because this was done institutionally by applying special regulations, allocating special funds, and formally notifying parties. "That cost us approximately BAM 200,000 per month. It was a slow and painstaking process, but special attention was paid to the rights of all people who were registered in any of those records," Panić recalled. He stressed that particular care was taken when registrations concerned the rights of religious communities. "Imagine if we had done this in the way it is being done in the FBiH - what kind of chaos would have ensued," Panić said. He assessed that this is not only a legal but also a political issue, asking whether this is an attempt for BiH, which under the Constitution does not own property, to acquire it at the expense of Serbs. Director of the Republika Srpska Administration for Geodetic and Property-Legal Affairs Dragan Stanković said that free legal aid for Serbs from the FBiH will be expanded to all 64 organisational units in Republika Srpska. "Until now, this aid was provided in six offices, with a significant increase in the number of requests compared to the previous period. These are Banja Luka, Bijeljina, Zvornik, Istočno Sarajevo, Nevesinje, and Mrkonjić Grad. Compared to the previous year, engagement increased by 175 percent in terms of providing aid to people," Stanković said. He warned that the seizure of churches and cemeteries goes beyond the last line of defence of what is most sacred, which usurpation is being attempted through perfidious means to create so-called state property. Deputy Attorney General of Republika Srpska Milan Radujko said that the Attorney’s Office will make all professional staff available to provide full support to all those who need it in the FBiH. He emphasized that the FBiH Law on Land Registers is unconstitutional, as are the Regulation on Public display of data regarding survey and cadastral classification of land and the Rulebook on Procedures in Land Registry Matters. "We have pointed this out before, as well as attempts to appropriate movable property and cultural heritage of the Serb people, including the Čajniče Gospel, which they attempted to register as national heritage of BiH," Radujko recalled. Head of the Republika Srpska Bar Association Darko Kremenović said that it is indisputable that human rights and the inviolability of property rights have been violated, leading to legal insecurity in the FBiH regarding the protection of property belonging to Serbs and the SOC. The Interdepartmental Working Group, formed to protect the rights of the SOC and Serbs in the FBiH, consists of representatives of the Republika Srpska Government and the Ministry of Justice, the Attorney’s Office, the Republika Srpska Administration for Geodetic and Property-Legal Affairs, and the Republika Srpska Bar Association. The Municipal Court in Mostar registered the Orthodox cemetery in the settlementvillage of Vrapčići as being owned by the "state," and then did the same with a chapel and another Orthodox cemetery on a different parcel.