Meeting of the Chairperson of the BiH Ombudsman with Vermont and CER

The Chairperson of the Human Rights Ombudsman of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Prof. Dr Ljubinko Mitrović, met today with Damir Radenković, a representative of the “Vermont” Youth Centre, and Mladen Dokić, a representative of the “Centre for Education and Research”.

The meeting covered the organizations’ ongoing activities, preparation for new project activities planned in the Brčko District of BiH and Bijeljina, as well as potential opportunities for cooperation among the three organizations mentioned.

An important part of the meetings was also devoted to discussing the Law on Access to Public Information, focusing on “administrative silence,” with the aim of ensuring better protection of human rights and developing communication channels between the public and local government.

“Past practice has shown that institutions sometimes refuse to provide information, stating in their replies that there is no public interest in it or that it concerns personal data whose disclosure is prohibited under the Personal Data Protection Act. In such cases, it is very important to request proof that the public institutions concerned have carried out a public interest test, or an explanation of which specific requested information constitutes personal data,” says Mladen Dokić, director of the Centre for Education and Research.

“Today’s meeting was an introductory activity for the continuation of cooperation and the next steps arising from it, which will be carried out in the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina over the next few months,” Vermont representatives said.