Brcko Supervisor Susan R. Johnson today issued supervisory orders delegating Supervisor’s authority over education, return and reconstruction in the Brcko District of BiH to the Brcko District Government and the Assembly, thus enabling the assembly and the government elected at the elections in October 2004 to exercise their authority and take full ownership in accordance with the Statute, laws and regulations.
Powers over education, return and reconstruction, were vested in the Brcko Supervisor by the Final Award of 5 March 1999, passed by the Arbitral Tribunal for Dispute over Inter-Entity Boundary in Brcko Area, and by the Annex to the Final Award of 18 August 1999.
Reform of the District education system took place in 2001, following the enactment of the Brcko District Law on Primary and Secondary Education, imposed by Supervisory Order of 5 July 2001. The result is an integrated multicultural educational system with harmonized curricula, which has successfully functioned ever since. Ahead is the further implementation of the District Law on Primary and Secondary Education, including advanced training of the teaching staff and modernization of pedagogical methodology. The Brcko District Law on Primary and Secondary Education is harmonized with the BiH Framework Law on Primary and Secondary Education.
The Law on Return of Abandoned Property in Brcko District was unanimously adopted on 30April 2001. By the end of 2003, all 10,889 requests for return of property were resolved. The reconstruction process is still in progress, and will require further substantial efforts by both the Assembly and the Government, applying fair, just, unbiased and transparent rules and criteria for the selection of beneficiaries of reconstruction assistance. Durable solutions will have to be found for those displaced persons still occupying alternative accommodation.
The Brcko Supervisor retains the right to intervene in the area of education, return and reconstruction in case of violations of the general principles of multi-ethnicity and democratic governance that are the very foundations of the District. The Government and the Assembly will have an obligation to submit to the Supervisor comprehensive reports on the current situation, developments and their plans at least twice a year.