KEY CHALLENGES IN THE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS IN THE BIH CIVI SERVICE – LEGAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL ASPECT

Abstract

The objective of the paper is to identify key challenges with which different Government levels in BiH are faced during the recruitment and selection process for civil service candidates. After reviewing the European standards regarding the recruitment and selection in the civil service, the author analyses legal framework of various phases of recruitment and selection process and key problems which occur in practice. The author concludes that, in spite of the solid legal framework, the recruitment and selection process in the civil service structures of BiH currently faces significant challenges. Since the beginning of the economic crises, political pressures for selection of candidates on the basis of political connections instead of merit are ever more present, which is undoubtedly one of the consequences of the economic crises which has significantly reduced entering into employment at the private sector and left little room for unemployed people to find a job at the labour market. In the course of the analysis and in the last part of the paper the author proposes systemic improvements of the legal framework of the recruitment and selection process in the BiH civil service, which are expected to improve the current situation in this important and sensitive fled in the mid and long term.