Nezavisne novine: The master offices in BiH need to be electronically connected, which would disable the misuse by issuing the personal documents, has been warned by Sredoje Nović, Minister of Civil Affairs of BiH.

At the last session of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament, where the analysis of condition in former CIPS project has been deliberated, it has been said that the misuses are happening before the entering the data into an integral personal documentation database. "It is happening that for issuing personal documents, a person registers the address of the Presidency of BiH and it passes. Because of such cases, which are being missed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it is important to electronically connect the master offices as well" has been said by Nović, who has two days ago held a meeting with the representatives of all ministries of internal affairs in BiH.

The Council of Ministers demands inspection

In order for all misuses to be disabled, the Council of Ministers of BiH has recommended that the entity, cantonal and local authorities by the 1st of January 2009 the latest, in all master offices establish the digitally verified electronic evidence in accordance with the regulations, and that they do the inspection supervision at the each location twice per year minimum.

In order for this system to be established, the Council of Ministers has recently obligated the Agency for Identification Documents, Evidence and Exchange of Data (IDDEEA) to prescribe the ways of electronic check and delivery of data from each municipality for all master offices necessary for issuing the passports and identification cards.

As we have found out, the promptness of introduction of biometric passports and a non-visa regime in BiH, will depend on the protection of procedures of issuing personal documents.

The ministers of internal affairs of BiH are authorized to execute the inspections in master offices, but in several letters sent to their addresses, we have received only a bunch of data without concrete diagrams on how many inaccuracies have been detected.   

From the MIA of the canton Sarajevo they have replied that the inspectors of the Department for legal affairs and inspection supervision are controlling the master offices and that in case of an inaccuracy, they create a protocol in order for such inaccuracies to be removed.

"In the region of the canton Sarajevo, a certain number of master books has been destroyed during the war, and the reconstruction of those has been done in such cases", they have said from the MIA of the canton Sarajevo, by reminding that the master books which in the war have been moved to the RS, have by the commissions been returned to municipalities of Sarajevo. In the Ministry of Administration and Local Self Governance of the RS, it has been said that they are controlling the work of master offices, but for eventual irregular corrections in master books, are responsible those from the MIA of the RS.