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Bosnia and Herzegovina
Summary of Domestic Prohibition
Slavery and slave trade
Provisions related to slavery are found in the Constitution at article 2(3)(c) which provides the right not to be held in slavery, and the Criminal Code at article 185, which criminalises placing or keeping a person in slavery, buying, selling, handing to another person or inducing someone else to sell their freedom or the freedom of a person they provide for or take care of. Transporting a person held in slavery is also prohibited under article 185(3).
Practices similar to slavery
Provisions related to institutions and practices similar to slavery are found in the Criminal Code at article 185, which criminalises placing or keeping a person in a status similar to slavery and transporting a person held in a status similar to slavery is also prohibited under article 185(3).
Servitude
Provisions related to servitude are found in the Constitution at article 2(3)(c) which provides the right to be free from servitude.
Forced or compulsory labour
Provisions related to forced labour are found in the Constitution which provides the right to be free from forced or compulsory labour at article 2(3)(c).
Human trafficking
Provisions related to trafficking in persons are found in the Criminal Code which criminalises trafficking at article 186, in the Srpska Republic Criminal Code which prohibits trafficking in persons in article 145, as well as in article 207a of the Brcko District Criminal Code.
Forced marriage
Provisions related to forced marriage in Bosnia and Herzegovina are found in the 2018 SRPSKA Republic Criminal Code, which addressing coercing, by force or threat, another person into marriage, with a potential penalty of imprisonment for a maximum of three years and a fine. It also addresses taking another person abroad or inducing them to go abroad for the purpose of committing a forced marriage at Article 83, with a potential penalty of imprisonment for a maximum of two years and a fine. Provisions related to forced marriage in Bosnia and Herzegovina are also found in the 2005 Family Law, which addresses a marriage consented to under fear, serious threat or deception regarding the identity or essential characteristics of the other spouse at Article 40.
Consent to marriage
Provisions requiring consent to marriage in Bosnia and Herzegovina are found in the Family Law 2005 , section 7(1) of which states that a woman and a man shall enter into marriage with a consent statement before the registrar. Section 183(1) of the SRPSKA REPUBLIC CRIMINAL CODE 2018 further recognizes that the consent of a party or prospective party to a marriage is invalidated where the person is subjected to coercion and whoever by force or threat coerces another person to enter into a contract of marriage shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment for a maximum term of three years.
Servile marriage
There appears to be no legislation in Bosnia and Herzegovina that prohibits servile matrimonial transactions.
Marriage trafficking
Provisions related to marriage trafficking in Bosnia and Herzegovina are found in the SRPSKA REPUBLIC CRIMINAL CODE 2018, which prohibits trafficking for marriage at article 145, with a potential penalty of by imprisonment for a term of not less than three years. Article 186 of the 2014 CRIMINAL CODE OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA also prohibits trafficking for practices similar to slavery at Article 186.
Minimum age for marriage
The minimum age for marriage in Bosnia and Herzegovina is 18, without differentiation by gender, as set out on Article 15 of the 2005 Family Law. Where marriages are conducted involving a person below the minimum age, the marriage must be annulled, as set out on Article 34 the 2005 Family Code. However, marriages below this age are permitted when there are justifiable reasons that the person is physically and mentally capable and the marriage is in her interest, as set out on Article 15 of the 2005 Family Law. These exceptions are not differentiated by gender, and allow marriages as early as 16.
Region
Eastern Europe
Regional Court
European Court of Human Rights
Legal System
Civil
International Instruments
International Obligations
- Slavery
- Servitude
- Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery
- Forced Labour
- Human Trafficking
- Marriage Trafficking
Regional Organisations
- European Court of Human Rights
- Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
- Council of Europe
Legislative Provisions
CONSTITUTION OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 1995 (REV. 2009)
Article II. Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
2. International Standards.
The rights and freedoms set forth in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its Protocols shall apply directly in Bosnia and Herzegovina. These shall have priority over all other law.
3. Enumeration of Rights.
All persons within the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall enjoy the human rights and fundamental freedoms referred to in paragraph 2 above; these include:
c.The right not to be held in slavery or servitude or to perform forced or compulsory labor.
d.The rights to liberty and security of person.
m. The right to liberty of movement and residence.
Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1995 (Rev. 2009) (PDF)
CRIMINAL CODE OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Article 147 Unlawful Deprivation of Freedom
(1) An official or responsible person in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina who unlawfully imprisons another person, keeps him imprisoned or otherwise restricts his freedom of movement, shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years.
(2) If the unlawful deprivation of freedom lasted for more than thirty days, or if the manner of the execution was cruel, or if such a treatment of the person who was illegally deprived of freedom caused grave impairment of his health, or if some other serious consequences occurred, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between two and eight years.
(3) If the person who has been illegally deprived of freedom lost his life as a result of the deprivation, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not less than five years.
Article 172
(1) Whoever, as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of such an attack perpetrates any of the following acts:
- c) Enslavement;
Article 173 War Crimes against Civilians
(1) Whoever in violation of rules of international law in time of war, armed conflict or occupation, orders or perpetrates any of the following acts:
- e) Coercing another by force or by threat of immediate attack upon his life or limb, or the life or limb of a person close to him, to sexual intercourse or an equivalent sexual act (rape) or forcible prostitution, application of measures of intimidation and terror, taking of hostages, imposing collective punishment, unlawful bringing in concentration camps and other illegal arrests and detention, deprivation of rights to fair and impartial trial, forcible service in the armed forces of enemy’s army or in its intelligence service or administration;
Article 185
(1) Whoever, in violation of the rules of international law, places another in slavery or in a similar status or keeps him in such a status, buys, sells, hands over to another person or mediates the purchase, sale or handing over of such a person or induces someone else to sell his freedom or the freedom of the person he provides for or takes care of, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between one and ten years.
(2) Whoever, in violation of the rules of international law, buys, sells, hands over to another person or mediates in the purchase, sale or handing over a child or a juvenile for the purpose of adoption, transplantation of organs, exploitation by labour or for other illicit purposes, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not less than five years.
(3) Whoever, in violation of the rules of international law, transports persons who are in a position of slavery or in similar status, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between six months and five years.
Article 186 Trafficking in Persons
(1) Whoever takes part in the recruitment, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to obtain the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between one and ten years.
(2) Whoever perpetrates the criminal offence referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article against a juvenile, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not less than five years.
(3) Whoever organizes a group of people with an aim of perpetrating the criminal offence referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not less than ten years or long-term imprisonment.
(4) Whoever acting out of negligence facilitates the perpetration of the criminal offence referred to in paragraphs 1 through 3 of this Article, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between six months and five years.
(5) “Exploitation” referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article includes, in particular, exploiting other persons by way of prostitution or of other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or slavery-like practices, serving under coercion or removal of organs for the purpose of transplantation.
Article 187 International Procuring in Prostitution
(1) Whoever procures, entices or leads away another person to offer sexual services for profit within a state excluding the one in which such a person has residence or of which he is a citizen, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between six months and five years.
(2) Whoever, by force or threat to use force or deceit, coerces or induces another person to go to the state in which he has no residence or of which he is not a citizen, for the purpose of offering sexual services upon payment, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between six months and five years.
(3) If the criminal offence referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article is perpetrated against a child or a juvenile, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between one and ten years.
(4) The fact whether the person procured, enticed, led away, forced or deceived into prostitution has already been engaged in prostitution is of no relevance for the existence of a criminal offence.
Article 188 Unlawful Withholding of Identity Papers
Whoever unlawfully withholds another person’s identification papers or passport, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between six months and five years.
Article 189 Smuggling of Persons
Whoever, for financial or material benefit, engages in illegal transport of other persons across the state border, or whoever enables another person to cross the border illicitly, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between six months and five years.
Article 190 Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
An official or another person who, acting upon the instigation or with the explicit or implicit consent of a public official person, inflicts on a person physical or mental pain or severe physical or mental suffering for such purposes as to obtain from him or a third person information or a confession, or to punish him for a criminal offence he or a third person has perpetrated or is suspected of having perpetrated or who intimidates or coerces him for any other reason based on discrimination of any kind, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between one and ten years.
THE LABOUR LAW 1999
Article 51 Protection of Minors
A minor may not work on particularly hard manual works, works underground or under water, nor on other jobs which could have a harmful effect or increased risk to his life or health, development or moral, given his psycho-physical qualities.
The Federal Ministry shall issue a separate regulation to determine the jobs from paragraph 1 of this article.
The labor inspector of the canton shall forbid the work of minors on the jobs in terms of paragraph 1 of this article.
Article 52 Protection of Women
A woman may not be ordered nor assigned to work on particularly hard manual works, works underground or under water, nor on other jobs which could have a harmful effect or increased risk to her life or health, given her psycho-physical qualities.
Exceptionally, restriction of work from paragraph 1 of this article shall not pertain to those women performing management or health and social protection jobs, students, employees in training or volunteers who in education or expert qualification must spend part of the time in underground parts of mines, and to women who periodically must enter underground parts of mines to perform non-manual works.
Article 140
A fine of 1,000.00 KM to 10,000.00 KM shall be imposed on an employer who is a legal entity for an offense, if:
1. fails to conclude the employment contract with the employee (Article 2),
2. discriminates a person seeking employment or an employed person (Article 5),
16. orders a minor employee to work overtime (Article 32, paragraph 3),
17. orders overtime work to a pregnant woman, a mother with a child of up to three years of age or a self-supporting parent with a child of up to six years of age, without his written consent (Article 32, paragraph 4),
18. orders night work for a woman employed in industry contrary to Article 35, paragraph 1,
19. orders night work for a minor employee (Article 36),
20. fails to allow an employee to use breaks and leave during work (Article 37),
21. fails to allow an employee to use daily and weekly breaks and leave (Articles 38 and 39),
25. assigns a minor employee to work on the jobs contrary to the provisions of this law (Article 51, paragraph 1),
26. employs a woman on the jobs where work of women is forbidden (Article 52),
SRPSKA REPUBLIC CRIMINAL CODE 2012, AS AMENDED IN 2018
Article 145- Trafficking in Human Beings
(1) Whoever, by force or threat or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud or deception, abuse of authority or influence, abuse of relationship of trust, dependence or vulnerability, difficult circumstances of another person, by giving or receiving of money or other benefits in order to obtain consent of a person who has control over another person, recruits, transports, transfers, delivers, sells, purchases, intermediates in sale, harbours, receives or keeps a person for the purpose of the use or exploitation of that person’s labour, perpetration of a criminal offence, prostitution, use for pornographic purposes, establishment of slavery or a similar relationship, forced marriage, forced sterilization, for the purpose of the removal of organs or body parts, for the use in armed forces or of some other type of exploitation, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than three years.
(2) Whoever seizes, holds or counterfeits or destroys personal identification documents with the purpose of perpetrating criminal offences referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between two and twelve years.
(3) If the criminal offence referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article was perpetrated as member of an organized criminal group, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than five years.
(4) Whoever uses, or enables other person to use sexual services or other forms of exploitation, and was aware that it concerns the victim of the human trafficking, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between six months and five years.
(5) If the offence referred to in paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this Article is perpetrated by an official person in the exercise of duty, he shall be punished by imprisonment for a minimum term of eight years.
(6) If the criminal offence referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 of this Article caused grievous bodily harm, serious health damage, or the death of one or more persons, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment for a minimum term of ten years.
(7) The consent of the victim to any form of exploitation referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall bear no relevance to the existence of the criminal offence of human trafficking.
(8) Items, vehicles and facilities used for the perpetration of the offence referred to in this Article shall be seized.
(9) When the victim of human trafficking is forced by the offender of criminal offence to participate in commission of another criminal offence, the criminal proceedings shall not be conducted against him if such action has been a direct consequence of his status of a victim of human trafficking.
Article 146 – Trafficking in Children
(1) Whoever recruits, transports, transfers, delivers, sells, purchases, intermediates in sale, harbours, keeps or receives a child with the purpose of use or exploitation of his labour, perpetration of a criminal offence, prostitution or other uses of sexual exploitation, pornography, establishment of slavery or similar relationship, forced marriage, forced sterilization, illegal adoption or a similar relationship, for the purpose of the removal of organs or body parts, for the use in armed forces or of some other type of exploitation, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than five years.
(2) Whoever perpetrates the offence referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article by use of force, serious threat or other forms of coercion, by deception, abduction, blackmail, abuse of office, abuse of relationship of trust, dependence of vulnerability, difficult circumstances of another person, by giving money or other benefits in order to obtain consent of a person who has control over another person, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than eight years.
(3) Whoever uses, or enables other person to use sexual services or other forms of exploitation of a child, and was aware that it concerns the victim of the human trafficking, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than five years.
(4) Whoever seizes, holds or counterfeits or destroys personal identification documents with the purpose of perpetrating criminal offences referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between three and fifteen years.
(5) If the criminal offence referred to in paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this Article was perpetrated as member of an organized criminal group, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than ten years.
(6) If the offence referred to in paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this Article is perpetrated by an official person in the exercise of duty, he shall be punished by imprisonment for a minimum term of eight years.
(7) If the criminal offence referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 of this Article caused grievous bodily harm, serious health damage, or the death of one or more persons, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment for a minimum term of ten years.
(8) The consent of the minor to any form of exploitation referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall bear no relevance to the existence of this criminal offence.
(9) Items, vehicles and facilities used for the perpetration of the offence referred to in this Article shall be seized.
(10) When the victim of child trafficking is forced by the offender of criminal offence to participate in commission of another criminal offence, the criminal proceedings shall not be conducted against the child if such action has been a direct consequence of his status of a victim of child trafficking.
BRCKO DISTRICT CRIMINAL CODE 2003, AS AMENDED IN 2018
Article 207a – Human Trafficking
(1) Whoever, by force or threat of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud or deception, abuse of relationship or trust or vulnerability, or by giving or receiving money or other benefits to persuade a person having control over another person, recruits, transports, transfers, delivers, harbours or receives a person for the purpose of exploiting him/her, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than five years. For the purpose of this Article the exploitation shall mean: prostitution of another person or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or similar relationship, servitude, removal of organs or body parts, or some other form of exploitation.
(2) Whoever recruits, transports, transfers, delivers, harbours or receives a person younger than 18 years of age with the purpose of using or exploiting him/her for prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or similar relationship, servitude, removal of organs or body parts, or some other form of exploitation, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than ten years
(3) If the offences referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article were perpetrated by an official person in exercising his/her duty, s/he shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than ten years.
(4) Whoever counterfeits, obtains or issues travel or identification document or uses, seizes, holds, trades, damages, destroys travel or identification document of another person to enable trafficking in human beings, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between one and five years.
(5) Whoever uses services provided by a victim of trafficking, shall be punished by imprisonment for the term between six months and five years.
(6) If due to the criminal offences referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article caused serious health problems, grievous bodily harm, or the death of one or more persons referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment for a minimum term of ten years or a long-term imprisonment.
(7) Items, vehicles and facilities used for the perpetration of the offence shall be seized.
(8) The consent of the victim to exploitation shall bear no relevance to the existence of the criminal offence of human trafficking.
(9) The victim of trafficking that was forced by the perpetrator of that criminal offence to take part in committing another criminal offence, shall not be prosecuted for the offence s/he committed if his/her actions were direct consequence of his/her status of the victim of trafficking.
Article 207b – Organized Trafficking in Human Beings
(1) Whoever organizes or leads a group, an organised group or a criminal group which jointly perpetrates or attempts a criminal offences referred to in articles 207a of this Code, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of at least ten years or long-term imprisonment.
(2) Whoever perpetrates a criminal offence as a member of the group referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, shall be punished by imprisonment of at least ten years.
(3) Whoever becomes a member of a group referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of at least one year.
(4) A member of a group referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article who divulges the group may be released of punishment.
CONSTITUTION OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 1995 (REV. 2009)
3. Enumeration of Rights.
All persons within the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall enjoy the human rights and fundamental freedoms referred to in paragraph 2 above; these include:
- The right to private and family life, home, and correspondence.
- The right to marry and to found a family.
Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1995 (Rev 2009) – Constitute Project – English (PDF)
CRIMINAL CODE OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 2003 (Rev 2014)
Article 185 Establishment of Slavery and Transport of Slaves
(1) Whoever, in violation of the rules of international law, places another in slavery or in a similar status or keeps him in such a status, buys, sells, hands over to another person or mediates the purchase, sale or handing over of such a person or induces someone else to sell his freedom or the freedom of the person he provides for or takes care of, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between one and ten years.
(2) Whoever, in violation of the rules of international law, buys, sells, hands over to another person or mediates in the purchase, sale or handing over persons under 18 years of age for the purpose of adoption, removing parts of human body, exploitation by labour or for other illicit purposes, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not less than five years.
(3) Whoever, in violation of the rules of international law, transports persons who are in a position of slavery or in similar status, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between six months and five years.
Article 186 Trafficking in Persons
(1) Whoever takes part in the recruitment, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to obtain the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between one and ten years.
(2) Whoever perpetrates the criminal offence referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article against a juvenile, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not less than five years.
(3) Whoever organizes a group of people with an aim of perpetrating the criminal offence referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not less than ten years or long-term imprisonment.
(4) Whoever acting out of negligence facilitates the perpetration of the criminal offence referred to in paragraphs 1 through 3 of this Article, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between six months and five years.
(5) “Exploitation” referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article includes, in particular, exploiting other persons by way of prostitution or of other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or slavery-like practices, serving under coercion or removal of organs for the purpose of transplantation.
Criminal Code 2003 (Rev 2014) – SHERLOC – English (PDF)
SRPSKA REPUBLIC CRIMINAL CODE 2012 (AMENDED 2018)
Article 46 Imprisonment
(1) Imprisonment may not be shorter than three months or longer than twenty years.
(2) Imprisonment shall be imposed in full years and months and the punishment of imprisonment for a maximum term of six months shall be measured in full days.
(3) The term of imprisonment not exceeding six months may be imposed by court only when special circumstances of the offence and the offender show that a fine may not achieve the purpose of punishment or that the fine cannot be enforced.
(4) Provision under paragraph 3 of this Article shall not be applied to imprisonment as replacement for unpaid fine (Article 50, paragraph 2 and 3) or to a revoked suspended sentence (Article 64).
(5) The term of imprisonment not exceeding one year may be exceptionally executed on the living premises of the convicted person (house arrest). Court may impose such a manner of executing punishment to an offender who is old or weak, seriously ill, a disabled person, a pregnant woman, single parent of underage children, if the purpose of punishment may be achieved this way and with the offender’s consent.
(6) A person sentenced to imprisonment referred to in the paragraph 5 of this Article must not leave his living premises, except in cases prescribed by law regulating execution of criminal sanctions.
(7) If the conditions for electronic or telecommunication surveillance of house arrest do not exist, the court may order measures of control and surveillance by police in the place of residence of the convicted person under condition to be regularly informed about execution of that control and surveillance. The convicted person who violates the prohibition to leave his living premises, may be ordered by the court to serve the remainder of imprisonment in an institution for execution of punishment.
(8) No execution of imprisonment sentence may be imposed according to the provision under paragraph 5 of this Article onto a person convicted for criminal offenses against marriage and family who lives in the same household with the injured party.
Article 96 The Course and Suspension of the Statute of Limitations on Criminal Prosecution
(1) The statute of limitations on criminal prosecution commences on the day of commission of the criminal offence. If the consequence caused by that offence takes effect later, the statute of limitations of the criminal prosecution shall last from the day the consequence took effect.
(2) The statute of limitations on criminal prosecution for continuous crimes begins at the moment of cessation of unlawful circumstances.(3) The statute of limitation for the criminal offences against sexual integrity, marriage and family committed against a child shall run from the day the victim comes to age.
(4) The running of the period set by statute of limitations is suspended for any time during which the prosecution cannot be legally instituted or continued. (5) The running of the period set by statute of limitations is interrupted by every motion that relates to the detection and prosecution of the offender on account of the criminal offence committed.
(6) The running of the period set by statute of limitations is also interrupted if the offender, before the period of limitation has elapsed, has committed a new criminal offence. (7) After each interruption, the period set by statute of limitations commences anew.
(7) The period set by statute of limitations to institute criminal prosecution expires in any case when twice as much time lapses as is set by the statute of limitations for the initiation of criminal prosecution.
Article 145- Trafficking in Human Beings
(1) Whoever, by force or threat or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud or deception, abuse of authority or influence, abuse of relationship of trust, dependence or vulnerability, difficult circumstances of another person, by giving or receiving of money or other benefits in order to obtain consent of a person who has control over another person, recruits, transports, transfers, delivers, sells, purchases, intermediates in sale, harbours, receives or keeps a person for the purpose of the use or exploitation of that person’s labour, perpetration of a criminal offence, prostitution, use for pornographic purposes, establishment of slavery or a similar relationship, forced marriage, forced sterilization, for the purpose of the removal of organs or body parts, for the use in armed forces or of some other type of exploitation, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than three years.
(2) Whoever seizes, holds or counterfeits or destroys personal identification documents with the purpose of perpetrating criminal offences referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between two and twelve years.
(3) If the criminal offence referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article was perpetrated as member of an organized criminal group, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than five years.
(4) Whoever uses, or enables other person to use sexual services or other forms of exploitation, and was aware that it concerns the victim of the human trafficking, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between six months and five years.
(5) If the offence referred to in paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this Article is perpetrated by an official person in the exercise of duty, he shall be punished by imprisonment for a minimum term of eight years.
(6) If the criminal offence referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 of this Article caused grievous bodily harm, serious health damage, or the death of one or more persons, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment for a minimum term of ten years.
(7) The consent of the victim to any form of exploitation referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall bear no relevance to the existence of the criminal offence of human trafficking.
(8) Items, vehicles and facilities used for the perpetration of the offence referred to in this Article shall be seized.
(9) When the victim of human trafficking is forced by the offender of criminal offence to participate in commission of another criminal offence, the criminal proceedings shall not be conducted against him if such action has been a direct consequence of his status of a victim of human trafficking.
Article 146 – Trafficking in Children
(1) Whoever recruits, transports, transfers, delivers, sells, purchases, intermediates in sale, harbours, keeps or receives a child with the purpose of use or exploitation of his labour, perpetration of a criminal offence, prostitution or other uses of sexual exploitation, pornography, establishment of slavery or similar relationship, forced marriage, forced sterilization, illegal adoption or a similar relationship, for the purpose of the removal of organs or body parts, for the use in armed forces or of some other type of exploitation, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than five years.
(2) Whoever perpetrates the offence referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article by use of force, serious threat or other forms of coercion, by deception, abduction, blackmail, abuse of office, abuse of relationship of trust, dependence of vulnerability, difficult circumstances of another person, by giving money or other benefits in order to obtain consent of a person who has control over another person, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than eight years.
(3) Whoever uses, or enables other person to use sexual services or other forms of exploitation of a child, and was aware that it concerns the victim of the human trafficking, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than five years.
(4) Whoever seizes, holds or counterfeits or destroys personal identification documents with the purpose of perpetrating criminal offences referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between three and fifteen years.
(5) If the criminal offence referred to in paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this Article was perpetrated as member of an organized criminal group, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than ten years.
(6) If the offence referred to in paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this Article is perpetrated by an official person in the exercise of duty, he shall be punished by imprisonment for a minimum term of eight years.
(7) If the criminal offence referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 of this Article caused grievous bodily harm, serious health damage, or the death of one or more persons, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment for a minimum term of ten years.
(8) The consent of the minor to any form of exploitation referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall bear no relevance to the existence of this criminal offence.
(9) Items, vehicles and facilities used for the perpetration of the offence referred to in this Article shall be seized.
(10) When the victim of child trafficking is forced by the offender of criminal offence to participate in commission of another criminal offence, the criminal proceedings shall not be conducted against the child if such action has been a direct consequence of his status of a victim of child trafficking
Article 182 Enabling Illegal Marriage
An authorized person before whom a contract of marriage is being conducted, who in the exercise of his duty knowingly permits a marriage which is prohibited or null and void under the law, shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment for a maximum term of two years.
Article 183 Coercion into a Marriage
(1) Whoever by force or threat coerces another person to enter into a contract of marriage shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment for a maximum term of three years.
(2) Whoever takes another person abroad or induces another person to go abroad for the purpose of committing the offence under paragraph 1 of this Article, shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment for a maximum term of two years.
Article 184 Non-Matrimonial Cohabitation with a Child
(1) Any adult who co-habits with a child in a non-matrimonial partnership, who is under the age of 16, shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment for a maximum term of three years.
(2) The punishment under paragraph 1 of this Article shall also be imposed on a parent, adoptive parent or foster parent who permits or induces a child under paragraph 1 of this Article to live in a non-matrimonial union with another person.
(3) If any offence under paragraph 2 of this Article is committed for material gain, the offender shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of between one and five years and a fine.
(4) In the event that a valid marriage is contracted, no prosecution shall be instituted, or if it has been instituted, it shall be discontinued.
BRCKO DISTRICT CRIMINAL CODE 2003 (AMENDED 2018)
Article 207a – Human Trafficking
(1) Whoever, by force or threat of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud or deception, abuse of relationship or trust or vulnerability, or by giving or receiving money or other benefits to persuade a person having control over another person, recruits, transports, transfers, delivers, harbours or receives a person for the purpose of exploiting him/her, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than five years. For the purpose of this Article the exploitation shall mean: prostitution of another person or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or similar relationship, servitude, removal of organs or body parts, or some other form of exploitation.
(2) Whoever recruits, transports, transfers, delivers, harbours or receives a person younger than 18 years of age with the purpose of using or exploiting him/her for prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or similar relationship, servitude, removal of organs or body parts, or some other form of exploitation, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than ten years
(3) If the offences referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article were perpetrated by an official person in exercising his/her duty, s/he shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than ten years.
(4) Whoever counterfeits, obtains or issues travel or identification document or uses, seizes, holds, trades, damages, destroys travel or identification document of another person to enable trafficking in human beings, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between one and five years.
(5) Whoever uses services provided by a victim of trafficking, shall be punished by imprisonment for the term between six months and five years.
(6) If due to the criminal offences referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article caused serious health problems, grievous bodily harm, or the death of one or more persons referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment for a minimum term of ten years or a long-term imprisonment.
(7) Items, vehicles and facilities used for the perpetration of the offence shall be seized.
(8) The consent of the victim to exploitation shall bear no relevance to the existence of the criminal offence of human trafficking.
(9) The victim of trafficking that was forced by the perpetrator of that criminal offence to take part in committing another criminal offence, shall not be prosecuted for the offence s/he committed if his/her actions were direct consequence of his/her status of the victim of trafficking.
Article 212 Enabling Conclusion of Unlawful Marriage
An official person or a registrar authorised for conclusion of marriage who, in performing his official duty, permits the conclusion of a marriage which is prohibited, annulled or considered ineffective by law, shall be sentenced to prison up to one year.
Article 213 Unlawful Cohabitation with Junior Juvenile Common-law Marriage with a Junior or Child
(1) An adult who unlawfully cohabits with a junior juvenile, shall be sentenced to prison from three months to three years.
(2) The sentence referred to in Paragraph 1 of this Article shall be applied to the parent, adoptive parent or guardian who permits the juvenile aged between fourteen and sixteen who has not reached sixteen years of age to unlawfully cohabit with another person, or encourages the juvenile to do so.
(3) If the motive for committing the offence referred to in Paragraph 2 of this Article was to achieve self-interest, the perpetrator shall be sentenced to prison from six months to five years.
(4) If the marriage is concluded, the prosecution shall not be undertaken, and if it had been undertaken, it shall be revoked.
FAMILY LAW 2005
Article 4
(1) Violent behavior of a spouse and any other member is prohibited in the family families.
(2) Violent behavior means any violation of the physical or mental integrity in terms of Article 4 of the Law on Gender Equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Article 6 The concept of marriage
Marriage is a legally regulated community of life of a woman and a man
Article 7 Conditions for the existence of marriage
(1) A woman and a man shall enter into marriage with a consent statement before the registrar.
(2) The registrar is a civil servant.
(3) After entering into a marriage, the spouses may enter into marriage before the registrar and before the religious clerk
Article 8
1) For the existence of a marriage it is necessary:
a) that future spouses are of different sexes,
b) that the future spouses have consented to the marriage,
c) that consent has been declared before the registrar
2) If any of the conditions referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article have not been met during the marriage, they shall not arise legal effects of marriage
Article 9
The right to sue to determine whether or not a marriage exists belongs to every person who has it legal interest, as well as the guardianship authority
Article 15
(1) A person who has not reached the age of 18 may not enter into marriage.
(2) Exceptionally, the court may in a non-litigious procedure allow the marriage of a person who is has reached the age of 16 if he finds that there are justifiable reasons that that person is physically and mentally capable of performing the rights and duties arising from marriage and that marriage is in her interest.
Article 16
(1) A marriage is not valid if the spouse consented to its conclusion out of fear a serious threat or delusion about the personality of the other spouse or about his or her essential properties.
(2) The misconception about the personality of the spouse exists when the spouse thought that he or she was entering into marriage with one person, and made it with another person.
(3) The misconception about the essential characteristic of the spouse exists when it comes to the characteristic or circumstance which would have deterred the other spouse from marrying if he had known about her, especially in the case extremely dangerous or severe diseases, permanent and incurable sexual impotence, pregnancy of a woman with another a man and previously convicted of a crime committed against the dignity of the person and morals
Article 30
(1) Spouses are equal in marriage.
(2) Spouses are obliged to be faithful to each other, to respect each other and to help each other.
(3) The spouses shall determine the place of residence by agreement.
(4) The spouses shall decide on the birth and raising of children, on the arrangement by mutual agreement and on an equal footing mutual relations and performing work in the marital or family community
Article 34
The marriage will be annulled if it is determined that at the time of its conclusion one of the conditions for validity of marriages provided for in Art. from 10 to 16 of this Law.
Article 35
A marriage will be annulled if it is not entered into for the purpose of leading a community of life.
(1) The right to sue for annulment of marriage for the reasons stated in Art. 10 and 35 of this Law belong spouses, any person who has a legal interest in the annulment of the marriage and the authority guardianship.
(2) The court shall not annul a new marriage entered into during the previous marriage of one of spouses, if the previous marriage was terminated before the conclusion of the main hearing
Article 38
The right to sue for annulment of marriage in cases referred to in Art. 12 and 13 of this Law belong to the spouses partners and the guardianship authority.
Article 39
(1) The right to sue for the annulment of a marriage concluded without the permission of the court by a person who has not completed it 18 years of age belong to the guardianship authority, the minor spouse and his parents.
(2) The court may reject the request for annulment of the marriage if at the time of the marriage there were or there were subsequently justifiable reasons why he could have allowed this marriage to take place earlier adulthood of the spouse.
(3) A marriage may not be annulled after the minor spouse has reached the age of 18, but a spouse who has reached the age of majority may file an action for annulment of the marriage within one year of coming of age.
Article 40
(1) The annulment of a marriage entered into in fear caused by a serious threat may only be sought a spouse who has entered into a marriage under the influence of a threat. A lawsuit can be filed within one years from the day when the danger of execution of the threat ceased, and the spouses are during that time lived together.
(2) The annulment of a marriage entered into in error may be requested only by the spouse who is in error agreed to the marriage. A lawsuit may be filed within one year of learning of the misrepresentation, a the spouses lived together during that time.
(3) The annulment of a marriage due to the knowledge of contagious diseases may be requested by the spouse to whom they belong hidden facts about the health condition of the other spouse.
(4) The annulment of a marriage may be initiated by the spouse due to difficult and incurable mental illness disorders of the other spouse.
(5) The annulment of a marriage may be initiated by the spouse against the other spouse who has remained silent greater obligations acquired before marriage from Article 261 of this Law