Conscientious Objection in B&H - Do Civilian Service!

15 December 2004

The conscientious objection to the obligatory military service is one of the basic human rights and it gives the right to the individuals to choose, because of religious, moral, ethical and philosophical reasons, to serve in a civilian public service instead of serving in the military.

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You can find the request forms for civilian service in the Republic of Srpska and the BH Federation, on the following Link.

Who has the right to appeal to his right to conscientious objection?
Every person entered into the military service registry, i.e. every conscript.

What is the dead-line to be followed before the conscientious objection appeal is declared void?
In the BH Federation, the appeal should be filed no later than 90 days since the day of entry into military service registry, while in the Republic of Srpska, the deadline is 15 days from the reception of the recruitment invitation.

To whom should the appeal be addressed?
In the BH Federation, the request should be addressed to the Commission for Civilian Service, appointed by the Federal Minister of Justice; and in the Republic of Srpska to the local recruitment commission.

What action can one take if one wasn't informed about the right to conscientious objection and didn't submit the request within the legal deadlines?

Send a letter to the Ministry of Defense of the Federation and RS, respectively, and claim lack of information about the right listed in article 81 of the Federal Defense Law, i.e. article 215 of the Defense Law of RS, and the failure of the competent institutions to inform you about your right during the entry in the military service registry.
Send a request to the Civilian Service Commission of the Ministry of Justice of the BH Federation or the competent local recruitment commission in RS, with citations from the two articles listed above.
Save the copies of the letters, the request and the postal receipts, for you may need to provide evidence, in case of appeal of the negative decision by the authorities, to the House of Human Rights of B&H.

Are there some restrictions to the right to conscientious objection?
The applicants can expressly list his preferences in terms of the institutions in which he/she desires to complete the civilian service. However, the list can't include an institution in which he/she is regularly employed, regardless of the fact that it may be a hospital or other organization in which he/she was employed at least one year prior to being sent to service.

The person that completed civilian service is issued lasting prohibition to purchase and carry firearms.

The right to conscientious objection IS NOT a form of avoidance of military service. The conscientious objection is LEGALLY PERMITTED FORM of completing one's civil duties towards the society, by serving in institutions of public interest.