Social protection and the issue of pensions “exceeding the Entities’ demarcation lines”

In Bosnia and Herzegovina itself, owing to the break-up of a single, republic- based pension and disability healthcare fund, and the setting up of three new funds in Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Mostar (the latter two were merged during 2000 into one federation fund), new problems arose in relation to social protection. Taking into account the enormous migration of the population, it was necessary to ensure that all persons, despite their change of place of residence or address, received social protection. In March 2000, the funds agreed that, following the signing of the agreement, social protection would be provided by such a fund which provided protection up until that time, regardless of whether the beneficiary would subsequently change his/her place of residence or address, in terms of exceeding the territorial jurisdiction of a fund. One must admit that such a provision, first and foremost, has a certain legal clarity and certainty. Since pensions in the RS were significantly lower than in the Federation of BiH (which is, to some extent, still the case), this agreement was criticised by the beneficiaries who had acquired their right to pension, before the war in BiH, in the territory of the present day Federation of BiH, with the Pension and Disability Fund of BiH, with a seat in Sarajevo. During the war, due to their relocation to the territory of the present day Republika Srpska, they continued receiving pensions from the Pension and Disability Fund of the Republika Srpska. If such persons were to return to their pre-war places of living, after the signing of the respective agreement, in accordance with the said agreement, they would still have to receive pensions from the Pension and Disability Fund of the Republika Srpska. However, the amount of such pensions is significantly lower than in Federation of BiH, although they had been receiving throughout their years of service the same contributions as their colleagues who had remained in the territory of the present day Federation of BiH and who still received pensions from the Pension and Disability Fund of BiH. Besides, they would be forced to live on lower pensions, although living expenses in the Federation of BiH are higher than in the RS. In practice, this problem-area proved to be an obstacle to the return of pensioners from the RS to the Federation of BiH.²⁴³⁴ By the middle of 2002 this delicate and uncertain situation was aggravated additionally by the fact that healthcare protection was geographically tied to the place where one was exercising the right to pension, so that internally displaced persons could not receive compensation for medical treatment costs unless they received it in the Entity where they exercised their right to pension.²⁴³⁵

In order to resolve the mentioned problem with pensioner-returnees, the State and both Entities had to implement appropriately the decision of the Human Rights Chamber No. CH/02/8923 et al. That implied implementation of the reform of this portion of social protection in both Entities, which had thus far²⁴³⁶ ignored and obstinately refused to commit themselves to the obligation arising from this decision. The fact that this obligation, following the judgment by the European Court²⁴³⁷ in connection with the enforcement of the decision of the Chamber in Case No. CH/02/8923 et al., has become an international obligation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e., of the Entities within the internal legal system, has not assisted a great deal. The reason was certainly the social and political sensitivity of the problem. Reform of this part of social protection is opposed, primarily, by those who would lose certain rights by its implementation.