CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

PART ONE - BASIC PROVISIONS

CHAPTER I - BASIC PRINCIPLES

Article 11 - Right to Compensation and Rehabilitation

A person who has been unjustifiably convicted of a criminal offense or deprived of liberty without valid grounds shall have the right to rehabilitation, indemnification from within the budget, as well as other rights as stipulated by law.

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

PART THREE – SPECIAL PROCEDURES

Chapter XXX - PROCEDURE FOR COMPENSATION OF DAMAGES, REHABILITATION AND OTHER RIGHTS OF PERSONS SUBJECT TO UNJUST CONVICTION AND GROUNDLESS APPREHENSION

Article 432 - Compensation of Damages Caused by Unjust Conviction

(1) A person against whom an effective criminal sanction was pronounced or who was found guilty and freed from sanction, and later, based on extraordinary remedy, new proceedings were effectively suspended or effective verdict was pronounced acquitting the person of charges, or the charges were rejected, shall be entitled to compensation of damages on grounds of unjust convicted, except in the following cases:

if the suspension of proceedings or the verdict rejecting the charges resulted from the Prosecutor dismissing the prosecution in the new proceedings, and the dismissal took place based on an agreement with the suspect or the accused;

if in the new proceedings a verdict was pronounced rejecting the charges due to Court incompetence, and the authorized Prosecutor instituted prosecution before a competent Court.

(2) A convicted person shall not be entitled to compensation of damages if he intentionally brought about his own conviction by false admission or in another way, unless he was forced to that.

(3) In case of conviction for merger of crimes, the right to compensation of damages may also refer to individual criminal offenses when the conditions for recognition of damages are met.

Article 433 - Statute of Limitation of Claims for Compensation of Damages

The statute of limitation of claims for compensation of damages shall be applicable three (3) years from the day of effectiveness of the verdict acquitting the accused or dismissing the charges, or the effectiveness of the decision of the Prosecutor or the Court suspending the proceedings, and if, in case of a request for extraordinary remedy, an appeal was filed to the Panel of the Appellate Division, from the day of receipt of that Panel’s decision.

Before submitting a claim for compensation of damages to the Court, the damaged person shall be obliged to file his claim with the competent Ministry of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the purpose of agreeing on existence of damages and the kind and amount of compensation.

In the case referred to in Article 434(1) of this Code, a claim may be decided upon only if the authorized Prosecutor did not institute prosecution before a competent Court within three (3) months from the day of receipt of the legally binding verdict.

Article 434 - Filing Claims for Compensation of Damages to Competent Court

If the claim for compensation of damages is not adopted or the competent Ministry of Bosnia and Herzegovina fails to make its decision within three (3) months from the day the claim is filed, the damaged person may file the claim for compensation of damages with the competent Court.

If an agreement is reached on a part of the compensation claim only, the damaged person may file a petition with regard to the rest of the claim.

Claims for the compensation of damages shall be filed against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Article 435 - Right of Heirs to Compensation of Damages

The heirs of the damaged person shall inherit only the right of the damaged person to compensation of damages to property. If a claim has already been filed by the damaged person, the heirs may continue the proceedings only within the limits of the already filed claim for compensation of damages to property.

The heirs of the damaged person, after his death, may continue compensation proceedings, or initiate such proceedings in case the damaged person died before the statute of limitation ran out and did not renounce the compensation claim.

Article 436 - Persons Entitled to Compensation of Damages

(1) The following persons shall be entitled to compensation of damages:

a) a person who was in detention, but criminal proceedings were not initiated or proceedings were suspended or an effective verdict was pronounced acquitting the person of charges or charges were rejected;

a person who served a sentence of imprisonment, and was pronounced a shorter imprisonment
sentence in new criminal proceedings than the sentence he had served, or was pronounced a criminal sanction other than imprisonment or he was pronounced guilty and freed from sanction;

a person who was subject to groundless apprehension or retained in detention or a correctional institution due to a mistake;

a person who was in detention longer than the sentence to which he was convicted.

A person who was imprisoned without a legal ground shall be entitled to compensation of damages if no pre-trial detention was ordered against him or the time for which he was imprisoned was not included in the sentence pronounced for a criminal offense or minor offense.

A person who caused imprisonment by his own unlawful acts shall not be entitled to compensation of damages. In cases referred to in Subparagraph a) of Paragraph 1 of this Article, right to compensation of damages shall not apply in case of circumstances referred to in Article 432(1), or if proceedings were suspended pursuant to Article 205 of this Code.

In compensation proceedings, in cases referred to in Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, the provisions of this Chapter shall apply accordingly.

Article 437 - Compensation of Damages Inflicted by Media

If a case involving unjust conviction or groundless apprehension of a person was covered by media, inflicting damage upon the reputation of that person, the Court shall, at the person’s request, publish in newspapers or other media a statement on its decision confirming that the previous conviction was unjust or that the apprehension was groundless. If the case was not covered by media, such a statement shall, at the request of that person, be provided to the authority, or another legal person in which the person works, and to a political party or civil association, if that is required for the person’s rehabilitation.

Article 438 - Persons Entitled to Filing Damage Claims

After a convicted person dies, his spouse or extramarital partner, children, parents, brothers and sisters shall be entitled to file such a claim.

The claim referred to in Paragraph 1 of this Article may be filed even if no claim for the compensation of damages was filed.

Notwithstanding the conditions foreseen in Article 432 of this Code, the claim referred to in Paragraph 1 of this Article may be filed in case the legal qualification of the act changed by use of an extraordinary remedy, in case the reputation of the convicted person was more severely damaged by the legal qualification in the earlier verdict.

The claim referred to in Paragraphs 1 to 3 of this Article shall be filed to the Court within six (6) months. The claim shall be decided upon by the Panel (Article 24(7)). In deciding on the claim, provisions of Article 432(2) and (3), and Article 436(3) of this Code shall apply accordingly.

Article 439 - Rehabilitation

The Court shall, ex officio, issue a decision annulling the registration of an unjust conviction in the criminal records. The decision shall be submitted to an authority competent for keeping criminal records. No data on annulled records may be given to anybody.

Article 440 - Ban on Use of Data

A person who gains access in any way to data pertaining to unjust conviction or groundless apprehension may not use such data in a way that would be damaging to the rehabilitation of a person against whom criminal proceedings were conducted.

Article 441 - Right to Compensation of Damages With Respect to Employment

Years of service or years of insurance coverage of a person whose employment was terminated or who lost the status of social insurance holder due to unjust conviction or groundless apprehension shall be recognized for the period of time in which the years of service or years of insurance coverage were not recognized due to unjust conviction or groundless apprehension. The period of time of unemployment effected due to unjust conviction or groundless apprehension, which was not the fault of the person in question, shall also be counted as years of service or years of insurance coverage.

When deciding on each case pertaining to the right that is affected by the years of service or years of insurance coverage, the responsible body or legal person shall also take into account the years of service or years of insurance coverage recognized in the provisions of Paragraph 1 of this Article.

If the responsible body or legal person referred to in Paragraph 2 of this Article fails to take into account the years of service or years of insurance coverage recognized in the provision of Paragraph 1 of this Article, the damaged party may request that the Court determine whether the recognition of this period of time was made in accordance with the law. The lawsuit shall be filed against the body or legal person that is disputing the recognized years of service or insurance coverage, and against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

At the request of the body or legal person at which the right under Paragraph 2 of this Article is exercised, a prescribed amount for the years of service recognized under the provision of Paragraph 1 of this Article shall be paid from the budget of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The years of insurance coverage recognized by the provision in Paragraph 1 of this Article shall be added in full to the years of retirement.

Article 85
Compensation to an arrested or convicted person
1. Anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention shall have an enforceable right to compensation.
2. When a person has by a final decision been convicted of a criminal offence, and when subsequently his or her conviction has been reversed on the ground that a new or newly discovered fact shows conclusively that there has been a miscarriage of justice, the person who has suffered punishment as a result of such conviction shall be compensated according to law, unless it is proved that the non-disclosure of the unknown fact in time is wholly or partly attributable to him or her.
3. In exceptional circumstances, where the Court finds conclusive facts showing that there has been a grave and manifest miscarriage of justice, it may in its discretion award compensation, according to the criteria provided in the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, to a person who has been released from detention following a final decision of acquittal or a termination of the proceedings for that reason.