The Government of the Republic of Srpska held today its 102nd session chaired by the Prime Minister of Republic of Srpska Radovan Višković.

During today's session, the Government approved the Proposal of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Criminal Procedure of the Republic of Srpska.

The proposed amendments are prepared in the function of improving the procedural position of the injured party in criminal proceedings with the aim of more efficient protection of his/her rights which include the right to take over criminal prosecution if the prosecutor withdraws the indictment after its confirmation.

The draft also proposes changes of the provisions that are in the function of a higher standard of protection of the rights of suspects, i.e. accused persons and the rights of injured parties (reduced functional competence of an individual judge, transferred competence to submit requests for protection of legality from the district to the republic prosecutor, reduced duration of detention during investigation, provision of additional degree of protection of the interests of the child as directly injured party/victim of the criminal offense and of the injured party in sexual offenses throughout the interrogation).

The changes that secure more efficient criminal proceedings include, inter alia, the extension of the direct presentation of evidence onto the reading of testimonies of witnesses who would not testify at the main trial without legal reasons, and the power to decide on disqualification of a judge transferred from the general session to the president. court and on the exemption of  prosecutors from the collegium of prosecutors to the chief prosecutor, introducing order to create a forensic copy as evidence, extension of the term "undercover investigator" to persons with police powers within police bodies of other countries, extension of total duration of some special investigative action from three to six months, increaasing the time of police detention of a person deprived of liberty on suspicion of having committed a criminal offense punishable by life imprisonment from 24 hours to 48 hours.

The Government of the Republic of Srpska passed the Decision on establishing the minimum wage in the Republic of Srpska in 2021.

The minimum wage in Republic of Srpska in 2021 shall be BAM 520.00 and represents the salary after taxation.

The minimum wage is paid to the employee only when the amount of the employee's salary calculated in accordance with the law, general act or employment contract is below the minimum wage amount established by this decision.

Pursuant to Article 127 of the Labor Law, the minimum wage in Republic of Srpska is determined by the Government of the Republic of Srpska following the proposal of the Socio-Economic Council in the last quarter of the current year for the following year.

In case the Socio-Economic Council fails to determine the proposal of the decision on the minimum wage, the decision shall be made by the Government of the Republic of Srpska taking into account the level of salaries, production growth and the standard of living in Republic of  Srpska.

The Government passed the decisions on approving the reallocation of budget reserve funds in the amount of BAM 100,000.00 to support the humanitarian campaign "With Love to Brave Hearts", for the establishment of the first Human Milk Bank in the Republic of Srpska.

The Government approved funds for social care of workers in the amount of BAM 301,558.12 for payment of contributions for pension and disability insurance and unemployment insurance for 169 workers from 19 companies who lost their jobs in the process of bankruptcy or liquidation of those companies.

The Government of the Republic of Srpska passed the Decision on the payment of financial assistance to underdeveloped and extremely underdeveloped local self-government units for the period July 1 to September 30, 2020 in the amount of BAM 750,000.00.

The Government of the Republic of Srpska passed the Decision on the payment of financial assistance to underdeveloped and extremely underdeveloped local self-government units for the period October 1 to December 31, 2020 in the amount of BAM 750,000.00. 

The Government passed the Decision on approving the reallocation of funds from the Budget Reserve in the amount of BAM 50,000.00 to the Students Union of Republic of Srpska for realization of the project "We love Srpska".

The Government of the Republic of Srpska adopted the Information on realization of activities related to implementation of the reforms of preschool, primary and secondary education in the Republic of Srpska for the period from October 1 to December 31, 2020.  

The Government adopted the Adult Education Plan for 2021.

This plan determines the priority areas of adult education, infrastructural activities necessary for conducting adult education, determines the distribution of adult education programs in local self-government units, the funding framework for implementation of the plan, determines the competent ministries for implementing the plan and determines dynamics of their implementation.

Priority areas in education of adults in 2021 are: training, secondary vocational education of adults, retraining, additional training and advanced training and education and training of staff for educational work with adults.

Through implementation of training programs in the course of 2021, it will be enabled for unemployed persons to acquire knowledge, skills and abilities and employment and also for those already employed to improve their knowledge, skills and abilities. Special attention will be paid to the training of adults who have no occupation, as well as to the improvement and expansion of on-the-job training, while encouraging the application of IT and communication technologies.

The Government of the Republic of Srpska adopted the 2021 Flood Defense Plan.

The Flood Defense Plan of Republic of Srpska in 2021 is the Plan of the Government of Republic of Srpska and the basic document for coordination and implementation of additional or special annual tasks and activities of republic bodies, cities/municipalities, companies, other legal entities and citizens' associations that carry out actions relevant for flood protection and rescue.

The adoption and implementation of this plan will improve and ensure more comprehensive engagement of all relevant factors and achieve a higher level of preparedness for the protection and rescue of people and material goods from floods.

The Republic Administration of Civil Protection is responsible for coordination, harmonization, monitoring and directing of all activities related to implementation of this Plan.

The Government of the Republic of Srpska adopted the Plan of Activities on preparation and implementation of measures for protection and rescue from forest fires and other open air fires in the Republic of Srpska in 2021.

The plan of activities for preparation and implementation of measures for protection and rescue from forest and open air fires in the Republic of Srpska in 2021 is a short-term strategic plan of the Government of the Republic of Srpska and a basic document for coordination and implementation of additional or special annual tasks and activities of institutions, cities/municipalities, companies, other legal entities and associations of citizens that implement measures and tasks of open fire protection as part of an integrated system of protection and rescue from natural disasters and other misfortunes in the Republic of Srpska.

Adoption and implementation of this plan will improve and ensure more comprehensive engagement of all relevant entities and achieve a higher level of preparedness for protection and rescue of people, material goods and the environment from forest and open air fires with the aim of achieving measurable effects through evident reduction of damage on our natural resources, forests and other vegetation.