Newsroom
International agencies congratulate Bosnia and Herzegovina municipalities for solving property claims
SARAJEVO 22 October 2002
SARAJEVO, 22 October 2002 - The agencies involved in property law implementation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) have applauded the housing authorities in Lopare, Sekovici, Kresevo and Srbac for having solved all property claims submitted to their offices.
These agencies - the Office of the High Representative, the OSCE Mission to BiH, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Committee for Real Property Claims, and the UN Mission to BiH - emphasized that, in doing so, these municipalities had created the conditions for the return of all claimants to their pre-war properties and proven once and for all that full implementation of the property law is possible. Although these four are not the only municipalities which have resolved the property cases submitted to them, they are the first ones with more than a handful of claims to have done so.
Lopare had a total of 833 claims, Srbac had 222 claims and Sekovici and Kresevo had 148 each, making them the municipalities with the highest number of claims in BiH so far to have completed the process.
This development is in line with the progress that the two BiH entities, the Federation and the Republika Srpska, have made in the implementation of property laws since the beginning of 2002. As a result, the Republika Sprska is closing in on the Federation, the difference in implementation rate now standing at less than 10 per cent, as opposed to18 per cent at the beginning of the year.
The agencies of the Property Legislation Implementation Process (PLIP) are expecting Cantonal, Entity, and State authorities to support the local authorities in the implementation of the New Strategic Direction, in order for them to follow the examples of Lopare, Sekovici, Kresevo and Srbac. As of 15 October, no delays in implementing the property law will be tolerated.
As part of the New Strategic Direction for property law implementation, the PLIP Agencies will continue to treat any deviation from the strict implementation of the property laws as obstruction of the full implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement.
These agencies - the Office of the High Representative, the OSCE Mission to BiH, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Committee for Real Property Claims, and the UN Mission to BiH - emphasized that, in doing so, these municipalities had created the conditions for the return of all claimants to their pre-war properties and proven once and for all that full implementation of the property law is possible. Although these four are not the only municipalities which have resolved the property cases submitted to them, they are the first ones with more than a handful of claims to have done so.
Lopare had a total of 833 claims, Srbac had 222 claims and Sekovici and Kresevo had 148 each, making them the municipalities with the highest number of claims in BiH so far to have completed the process.
This development is in line with the progress that the two BiH entities, the Federation and the Republika Srpska, have made in the implementation of property laws since the beginning of 2002. As a result, the Republika Sprska is closing in on the Federation, the difference in implementation rate now standing at less than 10 per cent, as opposed to18 per cent at the beginning of the year.
The agencies of the Property Legislation Implementation Process (PLIP) are expecting Cantonal, Entity, and State authorities to support the local authorities in the implementation of the New Strategic Direction, in order for them to follow the examples of Lopare, Sekovici, Kresevo and Srbac. As of 15 October, no delays in implementing the property law will be tolerated.
As part of the New Strategic Direction for property law implementation, the PLIP Agencies will continue to treat any deviation from the strict implementation of the property laws as obstruction of the full implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement.