On 25 April, the Polish Parliament (Sejm), unanimously approved ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings. The law on ratification of the Convention, will now proceed to the upper house of the Parliament (Senat). The Convention was opened for signature in Warsaw in May, 2005 and since then 13 countries have ratified the document, and 24 have signed it. The Convention came into force on 1 February. (Rzeczpospolita Daily)

(www.edri.org) The Federal German Constitutional Court issued a preliminary decision on 19 March 2008 in the case supported by 34 000 people against the German implementation of the data retention directive. The preliminary ruling has considered that parts of the act are unconstitutional pending review. The decision does not prohibit the electronic communication companies to gather the data, but limits its use, explaining that the retained data can be transferred to law enforcement authorities only in cases of serious crimes and with a judicial warrant. The data shall be made available only in prosecuting or judging serious crime cases when other evidences are not accessible or are not enough. At the same time the Government is obliged to send a report to the Constitutional Court by 1 September 2008 on the practical effects of the data retention and the implementation of the present preliminary ruling. The German Working Group on Data Retention, the NGO that initiated this protest, expressed their satisfaction about the preliminary decision and remained optimistic about the final result: "This is but a preliminary ruling. The Constitutional Court is traditionally reserved with regard to preliminary rulings. We remain confident that in cooperation with over 30.000 other applicants, we will be able to stop the surveillance of telecommunications in the absence of reasonable suspicion", declared Werner Hülsmann, member of the Working Group. The NGO also asked for the resignation of the responsible Minister of Justice, Brigitte Zypries. Patrick Breyer, member of the Working Group, explained the demand: "Mrs Zypries negotiated the data retention rules against the will of the German Parliament, agreed to an EU directive which lacks a legal basis and tried to impose data retention in Germany in violation of the clear jurisprudence of the Federal Constitutional Court. This intentional breach of our constitution disqualifies her as a Minister of Justice." The German Constitutional Court will take a final decision on the case later this year, waiting also for the European Court of Justice's decision in the action started on 6 July 2006 - Ireland vs. Council of the European Union, European Parliament (Case C-301/06). In the meantime, the Working Group gives recommendations on its homepage on how to circumvent data retention and asks citizens to take their deputies to task and ask them just how they intend to effectively prevent such violations of our constitutional rights in the future.

Bosnia's lower house of Parliament has narrowly adopted crucial police reforms, necessary for its EU membership bid.

The legislation now just needs approval from the Upper House the House of Peoples, and Bosnia will fulfil its last obstacle for signing the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, SAA with the European Union – widely seen as the first step to membership of the bloc.

"I want to congratulate all those who made a compromise in the interest of citizens and the state," Prime Minister Nikola Spiric said.

"Better days are ahead of us and also a lot of work related to the SAA signature."

“Citizens of this country can breathe a sigh of relief. Slowly but surely, Bosnia and Herzegovina is entering more secure waters,” said journalist Sead Numanovic in his column published in Sarajevo daily Avaz.

House of Peoples’ vote on the reforms – considered a mere formality – could take place on April 14 and signing of the SAA could take place already by the end of May, western diplomats say.

Thursday’s vote was initially planned for April 4, but after two days of tension and trading accusations, Bosnian legislators delayed their decision in order to give more time to political leaders to reconcile their differences.

The reform laws were adopted by a majority gathered around two key parties – the Bosnian Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina, SZBH and the Bosnian Serb Party of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD. As these two parties clashed over last-minute amendments, Bosnia’s top international envoy Miroslav Lajcak intervened. Local and international sources said Lajcak proposed a compromise version that was eventually narrowly adopted with 22 votes for, 19 against and one abstained.

“I now expect the BiH House of Peoples to pass this legislation so the country can finally move forward,” Lajcak said in a press statement on Friday.

“I am sure that will enable the European Commission to consider a positive recommendation for Bosnia to sign the SAA with the EU in the coming weeks.”

The Bosniak Party of Democratic Action, SDA, Serb Democratic Party, SDS and opposition Social Democratic Party, SDP remained resolutely opposed to the legislation. SDA and SDP demanded larger centralisation of police forces, while the SDS wanted a referendum on this issue.

The two laws establish a number of coordinating and supervising bodies in line with EU requirements. The legislation does not insist on a greater centralisation of Bosnia’s state, entity and local police forces, but includes a compromise amendment stipulating that further reforms will be made pending eventual future constitutional changes.

While adoption of the police reform represents a crucial step forward for the country, it has come at high price. Heightening of tensions on the political scene and growing divisions among the two key Bosniak parties, SDA and SZBH, could have serious negative effects on the ruling coalition in the coming period, analysts say. [BalkanInsight.com]