Help desk

The Network for Building Peace does not have a list of experts working on local self-government issues. However, we recommend you visit the website of the Association of Municipalities and Cities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska that have a previously mentioned list.

Additionally, the Association BH Journalists published a list of women experts working in different areas of expertise.

It all depends from canton to canton. In some cantons associations are exempt from paying this fee and in some they are not. When it comes to Zenica-Doboj Canton associations are not exempt from paying the fee.

More information: https://www.zenica.ba/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/Odluka_o_komunalnim_taksama-preciscen_tekst.pdf

Q: Do you know if there are funds/grants/donors for financing prototyping and patent protection? I have contacted Lancaster University in the UK. They asked me to send a prototype, conduct a research which costs around £ 10,000, and patent protection worth $ 5,000. At our university, I did not find a person who deals with the problem of converting vibrations into electricity. 

A: Please contact the Institute for Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as patent protection in BiH is governed by the Institute. We also recommend that you follow Snaga lokalnog website (Calls for project proposals) and check the availability of patent protection funding in our Donors Database. 

Since 2018, when the Rulebook on the application of the Income Tax Act was amended (Article 12, paragraph 4, item 3 of the Income Tax Act, and Article 70b of the Rulebook on the Application of the Income Tax Act), nothing has changed regarding the status of freelancers.
The taxpayer of income tax is a resident of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a non-resident who earns income, namely – a resident who earns income in the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and outside the territory of the Federation. Earnings received from abroad are treated as their income from self-employment, and consequently freelancers are obliged to report the amount of income and pay tax on it. For this reason, after the payment is made to the account, the tax must be paid the day after.
By not filing an application and failing to make a tax payment, freelancers risk paying a fine.
A natural person who fails to file a tax return with the Tax Administration in the manner prescribed by this or any tax law of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, shall be fined in the amount of 300.00 BAM to 3,000.00 BAM. For each tax form made by the Tax Administration on behalf of the taxpayer, a fine in the amount of 500.00 BAM to 50,000.00 BAM is prescribed.
If you do not know how to fill in the tax form yourself, please visit the closest office of the Tax Administration where you will receive a form and instructions on how to fill it out.

The Association Network for Building Peace has started the implementation of the project Snaga lokalnog. Snaga lokalnog is a five-year project, financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which aim is to empower local communities.
I take this opportunity to invite you to visit our website and register in our user database, in order to easily access a large number of services and information offered by the Snaga lokalnog:
https://organizacije.snagalokalnog.ba/public/
I would like to point out that you can register at the website as an organization or as an individual.
Registration is free.
If you have additional questions, colleagues working on the project Minel Abaz minel.abaz@mreza-mira.net and Maida Zagorac maida.zagorac@mreza-mira.net will be more than happy to answer any questions about the project.
Please send all your suggestions on different kinds of cooperation directly to the Association Network for Building Peace.

According to the UNDP and other international donors who have application forms in English, the project proposal also needs to be written in English.
Of course, there are applications forms from international organizations that specifically indicate in the call for project proposals that the application forms can be written in local language.
For more information, we recommend you contact directly the UNDP or any another donor organization award grant funds.

SNAGA LOKALNOG
Information and contacts for the development of local communities in one place
Whether you are an individual, non-governmental organization, business entity, public institution, media, trade union, activist or informal group of citizens, if you register on the Snagalokalnog platform, you have a large amount of information at your disposal that can be useful in your everyday work.
• Are you looking for funding? Browse the electronic database of donors and find out about numerous calls for project proposals! https://donatori.snagalokalnog.ba/public
• Do you need project or business partners? View registered users and Chatroom! https://organizacije.snagalokalnog.ba/public/
• Do you want to gain new knowledge and skills? Find out about new calls for trainings, capacity building programs and resource materials!
• Do you need help? Contact our Helpdesk! https://snagalokalnog.ba/en/helpdesk/
• Do you need more inspiration? Read our success stories, stories about drivers of social change in Bosnia and Herzegovina! https://snagalokalnog.ba/en/category/local-stories/
• Do you help others? Start a humanitarian action! https://snagalokalnog.ba/en/category/philanthropy/
• Are you planning to start a local initiative? Contact us, connect and motivate others
• Are you proud of your work? Share your story and successes with others!

According to the UNDP and other international donors who have application forms in English, the project proposal also needs to be written in English.
Of course, there are applications forms from international organizations that specifically indicate in the call for project proposals that the application forms can be written in local language.
For more information, we recommend you contact directly the UNDP or any another donor organization award grant funds.

D&B D-U-N-S™ number can be compared to global identification number and is issued by Dun & Bradstreet, Bisnode’s strategic partner. Dun & Bradstreet has the world’s largest corporate database containing data on more than 285 million companies worldwide.
If you want to get your DUNS number please use the following link:
http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/CCRSearch.do?val=1/
The registration system is user-friendly, and the USAID encourages you complete the registration by yourself and obtain your DUNS number.
If you have problems, you can contact Bisnode via email: info.ba@bisnode.com or phone: +387 33 215 454, +387 33 215 452 or visit Bisnode BH at Vrazova 8, 71000 Sarajevo, www.bisnode.ba

When applying for the USAID grants, you must also have an NCAGE/CAGE code.
First, you must register and get the DUNS number.
• To apply for NCAGE code, please visit the website: CAGE/NCAGE Code Request
• All instructions related to the NCAGE application process are available here.
• If you have problems registering, please call the following number: 1-269-961-7766 or send an inquiry to the following email: NCAGE@dlis.dla.mil.
If you need help with registration, send us an email at info@mreza-mira.net.

Information on how to complete SAM registration is available at: https://extra.usaid.gov/partner-learning/sam/presentation_content/external_files/Registering%20for%20Federal%20Award%20Systems%20-%20SAM.pdf
If you need help, send us an email at info@mreza-mira.net.

On the Capitalia Finance and Accounting page, you can find detailed instructions related to the annual financial report and forms that associations have to submit: https://capitalia.ba/2018/02/12/godisnji_obracun/

You need to submit the following documents:
• 2x Decision of the Assembly on amending the Statute, the part where it is stated that the registered address of the organization is changed;
• Minutes from the Assembly at which the change of the address of residence was discussed and adopted;
• Fee in the amount of 50 BAM;
All documents must be signed and stamped by an authorized person.

Online courses on the topic of project development and proposal writing can be found at the following link:
http://europski-fondovi.eu/vijesti/aplikacija-za-elektroni-ko-u-enje-pisanja-i-provedbe-eu-projekata

All instructions related to registration in the PADOR database can be found in a short manual created by the Centar za edukaciju i obrazovanje/Center for Education at the following link:
https://ceo.ba/en/kategorija-zanimljivosti/189-uputstva-za-registraciju-u-pador.html

To know where to file the lawsuit it is necessary to know which court has jurisdiction to hear the case. Courts in the FBiH are organized at the municipal and the cantonal level. Municipal courts are competent to adjudicate in commercial matters in first-instance proceedings, while the cantonal courts hear commercial cases at second instance. Commercial disputes are heard and adjudicated at municipal courts Bihać, Orašje, Tuzla, Zenica, Goražde, Travnik, Mostar, Široki Brijeg, Sarajevo and Livno which have organized commercial divisions specialized to hear commercial cases.
If a party to the proceeding is not satisfied with the outcome of the proceedings or feels that its rights were violated, it is entitled to use an extraordinary legal remedy – review by the FBiH Supreme Court. In case you wish to use this remedy, we suggest you seek professional assistance of an attorney.
To promptly receive the court judgment, it is important to correctly determine which court has jurisdiction to review the lawsuit. You will lose valuable time if you file a lawsuit to a wrong court. Under the law, if you file a lawsuit to a court that is not competent to review it, the court will then forward the lawsuit to the competent court. However, this will significantly slow down the procedure. Depending on cantonal regulations on court fees and practices of the acting courts you may also be required to pay the court fees twice – to the court that received the lawsuit and to the competent court.
If you are filing a lawsuit, you file it to a municipal court. To determine which municipal court to file a lawsuit you should consider the subject matter of the dispute as well as other circumstances as follows:
• First, if you have a contract concluded with the party you wish to sue and this contract regulates issues that are the subject of a dispute, check if the territorial jurisdiction of a particular court has been agreed to in the contract. If so, file the lawsuit with the court specified in the contract.
• Second, if the contract says nothing on territorial jurisdiction or no contract is relevant for the dispute then the competent court is, in most cases, determined based on the location of defendant’s seat of business(headquarters). In these circumstances the competent court may also be determined by the place where the damage occurred or arose, by the consumer’s place of permanent residence or by the office of the company’s establishment. Namely, there are instances when you can file the claim with different courts, but this depends on the subject-matter and the nature of the dispute. For example, a lawsuit concerning labor and employment disputes can be filed with the court on which territory the employment was realized.
• Third, if you are filing a lawsuit concerning immovable property, the court on which territory the immovable property is located has exclusive jurisdiction to decide on a case.
• Fourth, in case of bankruptcy proceeding or enforcement proceeding (once you come to that) the court on which territory the bankruptcy or enforcement proceedings are conducted has exclusive jurisdiction to decide on a case.
Source: https://adi.org.ba/en/2020/01/27/self-representation-guide-for-micro-small-and-medium-sized-enterprises/

What are the court fees for individual actions during the proceeding?

Court proceedings are not free of cost for self-representation. If you are filing a claim it is important to know that you are obligated to pay the court fee. The fee does not have to be paid at the time of the lawsuit. But before you undertake any further steps in the procedure the court will send you an order for payment of the fee.
Once the judgment is rendered you will have to pay a judgment fee. If you are not satisfied with the court’s decision and decide to file an appeal, you will have to pay an appeal fee. In the FBiH, the amounts of court fees are regulated at cantonal level and defined based on the value or nature of the dispute. Minimum amounts of court fees range from 20 BAM to 50 BAM, while maximum amounts range from 5,000 BAM to 10,000 BAM, depending on canton. Before filing a lawsuit or an appeal, you can ask the court about the amounts of court fees or you can calculate them based on the respective cantonal law on court fees. In Annex I of the Guide you can find information on amounts of court fees in each canton as well as links to all ten cantonal laws on court fees and court fee calculators.
You have to pay the court fee even if you subsequently withdraw your lawsuit or if the lawsuit is dismissed by the court (see Chapter IV, heading 4.1.4 – Basic steps to file a lawsuit).
Source: https://adi.org.ba/en/2020/01/27/self-representation-guide-for-micro-small-and-medium-sized-enterprises/

It is important to know how to formulate the claim, as it reflects your requests to the court.
In principle, present your claim clearly and precisely but only after you elaborate the facts on which your claim will be based and list the evidence substantiating the facts.
Do not forget to submit any additional requests (such as payment of interest, reimbursement of litigation costs, expert evaluation costs, court fees and the like).
Source: https://adi.org.ba/en/2020/01/27/self-representation-guide-for-micro-small-and-medium-sized-enterprises/