“Any further delay in enacting the State Ombudsman Law will only hamper BiH 's prospects within the SAA process,” Ambassador Ney said today. “BiH parliamentarians must demonstrate their ability to comply with international obligations and thus fully endorse this Lawin the House of People version. This will be a substantial boost for the next round of SAA negotiations.”
Adoption of the State Ombudsman Law, which provides for the merger of the Entity Ombudsman Offices at the State level, is one of a small number of Council of Europe post-accession requirements that BiH still has to fulfill. As such, it is also a requirement of BiH’s EU Stabilisation and Association process. Ambassador Ney warned that failure to reach consensus on harmonizing the Law would damage an important BiH institution, and he urged the Committee to adopt the HoP version of the Law.
"Insisting on the HoR version would undermine the basic principles of the Law,” Ambassador Ney said. “Adopting such a version would represent a clear disregard for the Council of Europe and would send entirely the wrong signal about BiH as a country that does not fulfill its international obligations.”