The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, today issued a Decision extending the ban on the allocation of state-owned land in BiH, first introduced by a Decision of the High Representative on 27 April 2000. The ban is extended until 31 March 2003, or until the enforcement of legislation regulating the issue of state-owned property, including former socially-owned property.
In a letter to the BiH State Presidency, the Entity prime ministers, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers and the State Minister for Human Rights and Refugees, the High Representative urged the BiH authorities to accelerate their current efforts to adopt laws that ensure that all future transfers of land under domestic legal process will be truly non-discriminatory. He said that “realistic mechanisms should be developed to address past illegal allocations and the structures that were built on them, and to redress individual claims concerning violations of rights by specific allocations.”
The High Representative reiterated his commitment to restoring as quickly as possible domestic authority to dispose of state land.
The ban on land allocations additionally does not apply to
- Allocation of land for the purpose of legalizing the existing premises built before April 6, 1992;
- Allocation of land, under or adjacent to legally erected structures, for its regular use;
- Construction of roof-top apartments;
- Registration of Joint Ventures established with state capital.