10/21/2003

Concept and contents

The High Representative’s Decision of 27 April 2000 banning transfers of state-owned (formerly socially-owned) land replaced an earlier Decision on this issue which was intended to address concerns that municipalities were allocating land in a manner that deterred the return of refugees and displaced persons. The Decision also responded to concerns that these land allocations, often without charge to beneficiaries, represented inefficient management of this important resource, frequently infringed upon individual property rights and deprived towns of badly needed revenues. The High Representative repeatedly called upon the responsible ministries to adopt reforming legislation that would ensure that future allocations are non-discriminatory and serve the interests of the public. To that end, a joint working group comprised of representatives of the domestic authorities and the International Community prepared a draft Law on Construction Land as the basis for further development and adoption by the respective Entity Parliaments. On 16 May 2003 the High Representative enacted a newLaw on Construction Land after long delays in the adoption of necessary reforms. With the aim of inform ing the public about the key reforms introduced by the “New Law on Construction Land”, and how the se reforms affect the citizens of BiH, OHR launched a public information campaign in July 2003. The campaign comprises a press advertisement published in all the main BiH newspapers, and a radio and TV jingle that ran on 94 radio and TV stations. In August 2003,posters and leaflets were distributed throughout BiH. As part of this campaign – in cooperation with the Ministry for Spatial Planning and Protection of Environment of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Ministry for Spatial Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology of Republika Srpska – in March 2004 OHR sponsored the “Implementation of the New Law on Construction Land” booklet. This booklet comprises the instructions on implementation of this law. The booklet was distributed to Geodetic and Property-Legal Affairs offices of all municipalities in BiH, and will be introduced in a series of radio and TV programs across BiH.

Contents: Poster, Leaflet, Booklet – Law and Practice, Implementation of the New Law on Construction Land