Improving transparency in the institutions of BiH (BA0022)

Which public issue will this obligation address?

In December 2018, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Policy and Standards of Proactive Transparency, tasking the BiH institutions with publishing on their websites all 38 categories of information defined by the Standards, and the Public Administration Reform Coordinator’s Office with conducting annual research on the implementation of the Standards. For the purposes of a comprehensive analysis of compliance with the Standards, the Agency for Statistics of BiH developed software used for this research, and signed a Memorandum with the Public Administration Reform Coordinator’s Office on the use of the software and data storage. Since 2019, the Public Administration Reform Coordinator’s Office has been conducting research for all state-level institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The findings indicate an increase in the transparency of BiH institutions. According to the sixth on-line survey, the average level of compliance with the Standards in 2024 among BiH institutions was 73.78% , with 56 out of 80 institutions submitting data. Although more than five years have passed since the adoption of the Policy and Standards of Proactive Transparency, some institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina still do not have even basic information published on their websites, such as details about their work, management, organisational structure, competences, budget and programmes. On the other hand, some standards are inapplicable to certain institutions that, for example, have no legal obligation to conduct public consultations or do not implement international projects, yet are still required to publish this type of information on their websites.

The right of citizens to have access to basic information about the work of institutions and about those responsible for that work is a fundamental public need in building transparency and accountability in public administration. There are two interrelated problems in society that this obligation seeks to address: first, the level of trust and, consequently, the use of public administration services (where citizens assume from the outset that information and accountability are lacking and therefore refrain from using such services); and second, the related public need to access information on those responsible for providing public services, which in turn enables both public oversight of the work of the administration and feedback on citizens’ satisfaction with its work. At present, no data is available on how BiH institutions apply the provisions of the new Law on Freedom of Access to Information at the level of BiH institutions, adopted in 2023, with regard to proactive transparency (Article 14).

What is the obligation?

The obligation will directly address the above-mentioned issue, aiming to enhance proactive transparency through the following measures:
- redefining the Policy and Standards of Proactive Transparency;
- advocating and promoting the proactive publication of information within the civil service;
- promoting proactive publication targeted at institutional management;
- building the capacity of civil servants in the area of proactive transparency;
- conducting user satisfaction surveys regarding the proactive transparency of BiH institutions;
- measuring and monitoring progress in the area of proactive transparency;
- piloting the proactive transparency standards in at least two municipalities (one in the FBiH and one in the RS).

How does the obligation contribute to resolving the public issue?

Some valid standards of proactive information disclosure are outdated and unenforceable in certain institutions (such as those without project activities or those not required to conduct public consultations under current legislation). The development, adaptation and adoption of new proactive transparency standards will provide a more transparent insight into the work of institutions and the decisions made on behalf of citizens. This will facilitate citizens’ access to information, replacing the need to submit a request on a prescribed form, navigate the legal framework, wait for a response or pay fees for access, with a proactive approach by institutions and the publication of information before it is requested. Furthermore, proactive publication of information ensures that information held by institutions is available to everyone, not just to applicants. Without adequate information, citizens cannot fully exercise their rights or access public sector services. Access to information is a fundamental tool for monitoring the work of elected officials and ensuring greater accountability in spending of taxpayers’ money.

Why is this obligation relevant to the OGP values?

Increases transparency of institutional work and citizen participation in decision-making.

Additional information

The obligation to proactively publish information is also supported by the following documents:
- the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
- the European principles of good public administration;
- The Directive on the re-use of public sector information 2003/98/EC;
- The Revised Action Plan 1 for Public Administration Reform
- The Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan for the Implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy 2015–2019
- National legislation (Law on Public Procurement of BiH, laws on administration, laws on free access to information...);
- Performance Audit Report on Transparency of the work of institutions in BiH.

Milestones:

New and/or amended standards of proactive transparency developed and adopted by the Council of Ministers of BiH. | 1 January 2025 – 31 December 2025
Enhanced capacities of civil servants and heads of institutions regarding proactive transparency. | 1 January 2026 – 31 December 2026
Conducted research on the usefulness of information provided by BiH institutions regarding proactive disclosure. | 1 September 2026 – 31 December 2026