1.    Q: What is a national monument?

A: National monument is an item of public property proclaimed by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments to be a national monument pursuant to Articles V and VI of Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as properties entered on the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina until the Commission adopts a final decision on their status, as to which there is no time limit regardless of whether a petition for the property in question has been submitted or not.

2.    Q: Who chooses the members of the Commission and how long does their mandate last?

A: The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina appoints five members of the Commission without an open competition. The Commission is composed of three domestic (from the constituent nations) and two foreign members, who are appointed to a five-year mandate, subject to reappointment. A person who has a university degree, whose competence has been affirmed by a scientific work or other activities which prove this, including their engagement in preservation and protection of cultural-historical, religious and other material-civilized heritage is the one who may be appointed a member of the Commission. 

3.    Q: Which properties can be nominated to be proclaimed a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina?

A: Portable and immovable properties of great significance for the group of people with common cultural, historic, religious or ethnic tradition, such as architectural, artistic or historic monuments; archaeological sites; groups of buildings and graveyards. That might be small objects (home furnishings, clothing, working equipment, tools, handicraft products, etc.), paintings, books, sculptures, fragments of various structures, inscriptions etc.; historic buildings and monuments(residential, religious, educational, administrative, public, commercial, infrastructural, military, cemetery, agricultural, industrial, etc.), architectural ensembles (creating a complex intended for a certain purpose or being an agglomeration occurred as a result of continuous construction activities in historic area); sites (urban, rural, archaeological, historical, industrial, cultural landscape, natural site related to some ritual or tradition, natural – scientific, mixed).

4.    Q: How to nominate a property for the status of a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina?

A: The procedure to nominate a property as a national monument may be carried out by any legal and natural person by submitting a petition to the Commission to Preserve National Monuments. The petition may be submitted for both movable and immovable heritage and the petition form may be taken from the website or in person, on the premises of the Commission. Proposal must contain all relevant information about the property including its exact location, current condition and the owner, expenses and sources of funds for all required repairs of the property, each known and suggested use of the property, and the basis for designation of the property as a national monument. The form of the petition can be found on the Commission's Internet site. Upon the submission of the proposal/petition, the Commission to Preserve National Monuments carries out investigation for determining relevant facts with respect to the said property. Following the completion of the investigation procedure, members of the Commission consider the submitted proposal and established facts, and adopt positive or negative decision on proclaiming a property a national monument. In addition to the proposal / petition, a designation procedure may be initiated by the Commission for the properties inscribed on the Provisional List of national monuments. 

5.    Q: How is a decision on the designation of a property as a national monument prepared?

A: In order to assess the property for which a designation procedure has been started, the experts in the Commission Secretariat collect all the available documents from other institutions which possess certain documentation (museums, libraries, institutes, archives, ...). In addition, they organize on-site visits to view the current state of the property, collect technical documentation (so called, monuments processing) and photo documentation. On the basis of the data collected, the experts start developing a study, or preparing a decision.

6.    Q: Which criteria are used as a basis for valorization and designation of a property as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina?

A: Based on the Criteria to Designate Properties as National Monuments published in the "Official Gazette", no. 33/02 and 15/03) and in particular determined time of origin (properties arisen from the prehistoric times until 1960). Therefore, properties created after 1960 cannot be proclaimed a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Additionally, historic value (association of the structure, ensemble or area with a certain historic figure or significant past event); Artistic or aesthetic value (quality of workmanship, quality of materials, proportion, composition, value of details, structural value); Legibility (material evidence of less known historical periods, evidence of historic changes, piece of art created by a significant artist or architect, evidence of certain type, style or regional manner, evidence of typical lifestyle throughout a certain era); Symbolic value (ontology, sacral and traditional value, connection with rituals and rites, significance for identity of a group of people); Townscape/landscape value (relation of the form with the other parts of the group, its meaning within the whole structure and the picture of the town, a building or group of buildings is a part of group or the site); Authenticity (shape and design, material and the content, purpose and use, tradition and techniques, location and spatial setting, spirit and feelings, other internal and external factors); Uniqueness and rarity (unique or rare sample of certain type or style, masterpiece of art or architectural work, work of prominent artist or architect); Integrity (of the group, site, collection). In order to designate certain property as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it has to meet one of the above stated criteria.

7.    Q: On which basis does the Commission adopt a decision on whether a property deserves the protection as a national monument, in other words, a property which entertains the highest degree of state protection, and others do not?

A: On having a decision prepared, the experts who have developed a study, present it at a session, where the memebers of the Commission adopt a final decision whether the said property deserves to be designated as a national monument, applying the Criteria for the Designation of the Property as National Monuments. Voting ‘for’ or ‘against’ the decision, the members of the Commission adopt a decision; at least 3 members shall vote ‘for’ in order to adopt a decision on designation. The Decision is then published in the ‘Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina’ and at the official web-page of the Commission.

8.    Q: What are the responsibilities of the Commission upon adopting a decision to designate a movable or immovable property as a national monument?

A: On the Commission having adopted a decision to designate a certain property as a national monument, within 15 days of the date of its adoption, the Commission Secretariat informs all the relevant institutions and petitioners about the decision. On publishing the decision in the ‘Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina), the enacting clause of the decision is submitted to relevant courts and geodetic administrations for the registration of the burden in the land register.

9.    Q: What are the legal consequences of the decision to designate a property as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina?

A: Consequences arising from the Commission's decision are set out in its wording. In each particular case, the Commission establishes protection measures aiming to protect a physical integrity of the property that has been declared a national monument. In general, with respect to real estate, established protection measures prescribe restrictions for spatial activities that might be carried out on the property that has been declared a national monument. Precisely, demolition of the property or any other works other than conservation and restoration works are prohibited. Therefore, the owner of the property that has been proclaimed a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not allowed to build new facilities or to expand existing one on the protected site. Protection measures set forth by the decision of the Commission are registered as an encumbrance in the Land Register excerpt for the said property with the competent court.

10. Q: Who is responsible for implementing the decisions of the Commission?

A: The implementation of the Commission’s decisions is the responsibility of entity governments and their department ministries (Ministry of Spatial Planning, or Construction, Ministry of Culture and the institutes for the protection of monuments / heritage, as well as the Department of Spatial Planning and Property Rights and Economic Development of Brčko District. Regardless of ownership, the entity governments shall ensure legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures for protection, conservation, display, rehabilitation of national monuments and other measures necessary for implementing the decision of the Commission. This is what the governments do and in their budgets ensure the funds for this purpose. However, due to the fact that large numbers of cultural properties have been demolished, and that other properties are mainly in poor repair due to poor maintenance, lack of funds is a grave problem. 

11. Q: What are the obligations of the owner of the property that has been designated as a national monument?

A: The owner of the national monument is obliged to use a national monument in accordance with determined protection measures, to keep it and maintain in accordance with the applicable regulations, as well as to inform the heritage protection authority of any changes which may significantly diminish or impair features of that property. The owner of the national monument must not use property and its immediate surrounding for purposes which are not in accordance with its nature, purpose and significance, or to use it in a manner that might cause a damage and are contrary to protection measures determined by the decision of the Commission. The owner is obliged to allow research and examination works on the property for scientific purposes, which should be carried out by a heritage protection authority or a physical person who has an approval of the competent institution.

12. Q: To whom the owner of the property my approach for consultation if his property is compromised?

A: See answer under the Q. 10

13. Q: Who is responsible for issuing permits in case some works (restoration and rehabilitation) are scheduled to be done on a national monument?

A: It is only entity ministries which are responsible for issuing approvals for interventions on national monuments (in the Republic of Srpska, it is the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction and the Environment of the Republic of Srpska, and in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is the Federal Ministry of Spatial Planning), and all interventions shall comply with the protection measures prescribed by the decision of the Commission for each individual monument.

14. Q: A certain national monument may be jeopardized by various factors (natural and human), what does the Commission plan to do in order to provide further protection for the property?

A: Within the scope of its routine activities, the Commission to Preserve National Monuments observes and considers the situation relating to the national monuments at risk due to illegal construction works, unprofessional restoration, poor maintenance or other type of destruction. Accordingly, the Commission has formed a List of National Monuments at Risk. In case it has been established that a national monument is at risk due to illegal construction works or unprofessional intervention, the Commission shall inform the relevant inspection authorities (the Federal Administration for Inspection Affairs, or the Republic Administration for Inspection Affairs of the Republic of Srpska). In case it has been ascertained that a national monument is damaged or demolished, a court proceedings with the relevant prosecutor’s office is initiated with a view of establishing the responsibility and punishing the offenders.

15. Q: Are there any fines for those who have vandalized national properties?

A: In case it has been ascertained that a national monument is damaged or demolished, a court proceedings with the relevant prosecutor’s office is initiated with a view to establishing the responsibility and punishing the offenders. If a national monument has been completely destroyed, heavily damaged or if it has lost the qualities  of a monument due to various activities, including conservation, restoration or research works without having an approval issued by relevant authorities, a sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment is determined by the Criminal Law of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, whereas, in compliance with the Criminal Law of the Republic of Srpska, the same criminal act carries a sentence of 8 years’ imprisonment.

16. Q: How many national monuments are there in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

A: A complete list of national monuments can be found here. Although the Commission has adopted more than 800 decisions on the designation of movable and immovable properties as national monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a large number of them relate to the protection of architectural ensembles, historic and archeological sites as well as entire archives and collections, in such a way that the number of individual properties included in the protection based on the Commission’s decisions is more thousands of movable and immovable monuments.

NATIONAL MONUMENTS

17. Q: If a property is not on the list of national monuments, but is on the Petition List or the Provisional List of national monuments, does it entertain any kind of protection or not?

A: All the properties, regardless of whether they are on the Provisional or Petition List, are the properties which entertain certain protection until a final decision is adopted by the Commission. The national monuments, including the monuments from the Monuments at Risk List, entertain the highest degree of protection.

18. Q: Is it allowed to put on the market an immovable property that has been proclaimed a national monument (for sale, lease, mortgage etc.)?

A: Yes.

19. Q: When it comes to exporting movable artifacts from Bosnia and Herzegovina with a view to displaying them abroad, what are the responsibilities of the Commission in this regard?

A: In accordance with the responsibilities of the Commission, and based on the decision of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Commission shall take initiative to start a procedure for concluding international agreements, prepare draft contracts, participate in preliminary negotiations with a view to concluding international agreements at professional level, implement international agreements, and perform other activities of international collaboration pertaining to national monuments protection, which also relate to the procedure for exporting movable national monuments and granting guarantees for their protection in case of a temporary export.