The Manual for Legal Protection of the Environment in Bosnia and Herzegovina should serve as a guide for all those who are interested in how they can protect the environment in Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: BiH) with the help of law and its instruments, whether they are activists in to human rights organizations, fighters for environmental goals, members of organizations engaged in various activities affecting the environment, members of citizens’ initiatives in local communities, groups focused on environmental protection or just interested citizens.
In this manual, there will not be too many words about theoretical issues related to environmental rights, a healthy environment and human rights law, and the focus will be on concrete law at the international and especially the domestic level in BiH, its entities, districts, cantons and local self-government.
All information and examples in this book are informative and not legally binding. Legally binding acts are only and exclusively regulations published in official gazettes within local self-government bodies, cantons, entities and the state. We recommend that, in case of any doubts, you look at the same or that you seek the necessary information from the competent authorities. Also, all references from the practice of courts and other authorities represent the interpretation of that practice, concepts and other essential characteristics, based on the author’s view of them. For a more detailed introduction to the practice, we recommend looking at and studying specific cases in your entirety, based on the data provided in the footnotes and at the end of the text, in the sources.
During the writing and preparation of the entire publication, an effort was made to make it as clear and precise as possible, as well as to be full of practical examples in addition to the legal regulations. All this was done in the hope that even people who do not have a legal education will be able to find in it all the basic elements and guidelines they need to fight for the protection of the environment. The examples given in the Manual are sometimes found in the text itself explaining a certain concept or procedure, and sometimes have separate parts of the text entitled “Example(s)”.
In the first part of the Manual entitled “Law and Standards”, an overview of international and domestic regulations related to environmental protection and human rights is given. It deals with the relation between the environment and human rights and analyzes international instruments and documents of organizations for the protection of human rights, adopted by the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Also, the cases of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the exercise of the right to a healthy environment were processed. In addition, domestic constitutional, legal and by-law texts at all levels in BiH were analyzed (state – at the level of BiH, entity – at the level of Republic of Srpska and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, level of Brčko District, cantonal level in the Federation of BiH and local self-government level). At the end of this chapter, principles of environmental protection at different levels in BiH are comparatively analyzed.
The second part entitled “Administrative Law and Environmental Protection” talks about administrative and legal ways of fighting for the environment with examples from the practice of environmental organizations in BiH. It deals with basic information, possibilities for initiating proceedings, party identification, etc., within the framework of administrative proceedings and administrative disputes at all levels in BiH. The protection of environmental rights through special procedures for the protection of the right to access to environmental information and the protection of the right to participate in procedures of importance for the protection of the environment, the protection of freedoms and rights guaranteed by the constitution in the administrative sense and reports to inspections were analyzed in particular. The analysis of everything was done at all levels in BiH. At the end of this chapter, examples from practice related to administrative and legal protection of the environment are given.
In the third part, which is entitled “Civil Law and Environmental Protection”, civil-legal mechanisms for environmental protection are explained, along with certain examples from jurisprudence. It contains basic information, the possibilities of initiating proceedings, party identification, etc., within the framework of civil proceedings at all levels in BiH in connection with specific instruments of environmental protection in the civil sphere, namely: “environmental lawsuit”, lawsuit for the protection of collective interests and rights, a negative lawsuit related to protection against harmful emissions and civil liability for environmental damage. At the end of this chapter, examples from practice related to civil and legal protection of the environment are given.
“Criminal Law and Environmental Protection” is the title of the next part of the manual, which is about criminal and misdemeanor environmental protection, along with statistical data on the prosecution of criminal and misdemeanor offenses related to environmental protection in BiH. It contains basic information, the possibilities of initiating proceedings, etc., within the framework of criminal and misdemeanor proceedings at all levels in BiH in connection with environmental protection. At the end of this chapter, there is an overview of punishment by courts in misdemeanor and criminal proceedings throughout BiH in the last five years, in connection with crimes and misdemeanors related to the environment, which were analyzed on the basis of requests for access to information to which has been answered, as well as an example from jurisprudence.
In the fifth part, entitled “Constitutional Law and Environmental Protection”, the constitutional-legal mechanisms of environmental protection in BiH are given and explained. It covers basic information, protection options, party identification, etc. within the proceedings before three constitutional courts in BiH in connection with environmental protection. At the end of this chapter, an example from practice related to the constitutional-legal protection of the environment is discussed.
When it comes to the final part of this manual entitled “Special Institutional Protection by Certain Bodies and Mixed Forms of Ecological Struggle”, it deals with the protection provided by the Institution of Human Rights Ombudsman of BiH, the work and possibilities of protection by parliamentary working bodies and protection through direct activism and civic ways of achieving environmental goals with concrete examples from practice from all three of these areas.
This manual is issued in two alphabets (Cyrillic and Latin). The versions of both alphabets are identical in terms of content. Only the pagination differs, due to the different size of the letters within the Cyrillic and Latin text.
This Manual can be downloaded for free in its Cyrillic version here, while its Latin version can be downloaded for free here.
