THE ROLE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF AARHUS CENTERS IN THE APPLICATION OF LEGISLATION RELATED TO
INSTALLING BASE STATIONS (example Aarhus Center Sarajevo)
Merima Polimac, B.Sc. iur.; M.Sc. Sabina Jukan; Association ―Aarhus Center in Bosnia and Herzegovina‖, Sarajevo
SUMMARY
On May 30, 2012, the OSCE Mission to BiH in cooperation with the City of Sarajevo opened the first
Aarhus Center in BiH (Aarhus Center Sarajevo), which has been functioning as an independent
non-governmental organization since 2013. Aarhus Center Sarajevo supports and promotes the implementation of the Aarhus
Convention in the area of the City of Sarajevo and indirectly in the area of Bosnia and Herzegovina by: helping the authorities to fulfill the obligations and duties specified in the Convention, promoting the introduction of regulations and methods aimed at enabling access to information, public participation and access to justice in the field of the environment, represents a bridge between state authorities, civil society and the economy, encourages the implementation of the Convention by developing the awareness and capabilities of interested parties, serves the wider community by providing her services from her field of activity.
In its activities so far, Aarhus Center Sarajevo has received a large number of complaints about
many irregularities when it comes to environmental protection, and some of them also related to base
stations. Through more detailed research, we discovered that there is very little information related to
this issue. The staff of Aarhus Center Sarajevo was actively involved in solving two cases,
one related to the settlement of Osijek (Municipality of Ilidža, Sarajevo), and the other to the settlement of Zenik (Municipality of Ilidža).
In both cases, the residents were not informed of the plan to build
base stations in the manner prescribed by law, and no public hearing was held, and the construction was planned near facilities such as
schools, clinics and family homes. By researching the very narrow legal regulations, we came to the
conclusion that almost no law is based on this issue, and that there is no need to issue an environmental permit. All this leaves room for many frauds, and the citizens
do not have an effective tool to fight this problem. Basically, everything we could do so far
was reduced to gathering information and putting pressure on the authorities to solve these
problems. In the first case, it bore fruit, so the base station was never built
in which the Aarhus Center Sarajevo contributed to a large extent by frequently seeking information,
initiating the signing of a petition by the citizens of Osijek and creating pressure on the competent
authorities. When it comes to the second case, Aarhus Center Sarajevo was involved when the base station
was almost built. The legal battle was fought for a long period of time where, with the support of citizens, we also saw corrupt actions, which were difficult to prove. When we realized that
we had exhausted all legal means, we requested an additional independent expert opinion, and realized
that the chances of winning the case are minimal.
States regulate laws in the field of protection of electromagnetic fields in open spaces, and
we are of the opinion that BiH is largely stalling on this issue, because it still does not have a law that
citizens could refer to, and the existing legal regulations on
protection against ionizing radiation and radiation safety need to be refined and amended, in order to better regulate the conditions in this
area. Also, it is necessary to regulate special conditions for the installation of base stations on
residential and other buildings, the method of obtaining consent from the owner of the building, i.e. the advice of
tenants, as well as the limitations that come with the installed station, such as the exposure of nearby facilities such as kindergartens, maternity wards, hospitals, schools and colleges, sports fields and homes.
THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF AARHUS CENTERS IN THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LEGISLATION ON THE INSTALLATION OF BASE
STATIONS (eg Aarhus Center Sarajevo)
Merima Polimac, BSc. iur.; M.Sc. Sabina Jukan; Association "Aarhus Center in BiH", Sarajevo
ABSTRACT
OSCE Mission to BiH, in cooperation with the City of Sarajevo on May 30, 2012 opened the first Aarhus
center in BiH (Aarhus Center Sarajevo), which since 2013 has functioned as an independent nongovernmental
organization. Aarhus Center Sarajevo supports and promotes the implementation of the
Aarhus Convention in the City of Sarajevo and indirectly in Bosnia and Herzegovina by: helping
authorities to fulfill the obligations and duties set out in the Convention, to promote the introduction of
regulations and methods aimed at facilitating access to information, public participation and access to
justice in environmental, represents a bridge between government bodies, civil society and the economy,
encourage the application of the Convention by developing awareness and the ability of interested parties,
serve the community at large by providing its services from its field of action.
In his past activities of Aarhus Center Sarajevo has received a large number of complaints about the many
irregularities when it comes to environmental protection, and part of them was related to the base station.
Detailed research we found that there is very little information related to this issue. Staff Aarhus Centre
Sarajevo is actively involved in the resolution of two cases, one related to the settlement Osijek
(Municipality Centar, Sarajevo), and the other for settlement Zenik (Ilidţa). In both cases, residents are
not legally familiar with the plan of construction of a base station, and not held a public hearing,
and construction is anticipated to close facilities such as schools, hospitals and family homes. The research
is very scarce legal regulations, we have come to the conclusion that almost no legislation does not
rely on this issue, and that is not prescribed or needs the issuance of the environmental permit. All this
leaves room for many abuses, and citizens have an effective tool to combat this problem. In essence, what
we have to do amounted to a collection of information and the creation of pressure on the authorities to
address these problems. In the first case it is also fruitful, and thus the base station was never built what
the Aarhus Center Sarajevo largely contributed to frequent requests for information, initiating a petition
of the citizens of the village of Osijek and creating pressure to the competent authorities. Regarding the
second case of Aarhus Center Sarajevo became involved when the base station was almost built. The
legal battle was fought a long period where we saw with the support of citizens and corruption, which has
been difficult to prove. When we realize that we have used all legal means we requested an additional
independent expert opinion, and having noted that the possibilities for obtaining the minimum case.
State laws regulate the field of electromagnetic fields in open spaces, and we believe that Bosnia and
Herzegovina largely hangs on this issue, because there is still no law on how the citizens can call, and it
will need, and amendments to existing legislation on the protection of ionizing radiation and radiation
protection, to better edit the conditions in this area. Also, it is necessary to arrange special conditions for
setting up base stations in residential and other objects, the method of obtaining the consent of the
property owner's or tenant tips, as well as restrictions that carries set of cells, such as exposure to objects
nearby, such as kindergartens, maternity , hospitals, schools and colleges, sports fields and homes.
