INSTITUTION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA Most of these complaints registered in 2019 are about the length of administrative proceedings, silence of administration, inefficiency in work of the inspections and exceeding the legal deadlines in decision making. The complaints include the following allegations: inappropriate conduct of the administrative staff, inadequate working hours of the administrative bodies, and referring user parties from one body to another, excessive formalism, inefficiencies and general violation of procedural provisions governing the administrative procedure. Citizens are dissatisfied with the fact that administrative proceedings are conducted in violation of the legal provisions, 164 for instance by failing to issue decisions within the legal deadlines, insisting on submission of a large number of unnecessary documents, violating the principle of providing assistance to a lay client, failing to decide on appeals, with lengthy decision-making procedures in the second instance, multiple return of cases to the first-instance (playing ping-pong with applicants) and wrongful application of the substantive law. Example: The Ombudsman processed a complaint 165 in which the complainant claimed that on 23 May 2018 she appealed from a decision made by the Public Institution “Cantonal Social Welfare Center”, Social Protection Service of the Municipality Novo Sarajevo no. 35/3-06-533110/18 dated 03 May 2018, but no decision was made until the date of her addressing the Ombudsman. The complainant urged the decision-making process on 29 June 2018. On 18 April 2019 the Ombudsman received a letter of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Policy no.: 0635/18-89/18-ĐN dated 16 April 2019 informing that on 03 January 2019 a decision no.: 06-35/192598/18-ĐN refusing the appeal of the complainant as ill-founded was made thus ending the proceedings conducted upon the complainant's appeal from the decision made by the PI “Cantonal Social Welfare Center”, Social Protection Service of the Municipality Novo Sarajevo no. 35/3-06533-110/18 dated 03 May 2018. Example: The Ombudsman processed a complaint 166 filed by a complainant who tried to obtain a birth certificate in multiple municipalities in Sarajevo Canton with no avail since they failed to issue it for the lack of information on the entry of the complainant's birth into the birth registration books. Following the Ombudsman's inquiry the Municipality of Centar Sarajevo replied 167 saying the following: “With full respect of the Ombudsman Institution, especially appreciating the fact that in this particular case you were involved in the proceedings, we treated your letter as a specific request for the issuance of a copy of birth registration in accordance with the provisions of Article 68 of the Law on Birth Registry. In this regard, attached to the letter please find the requested birth certificate”. This complaint of a citizen who was not able to obtain her birth certificate and the method of its solution Ombudspersons highlight as a positive example of cooperation with the Ombudsman. Example: The Ombudsman processed a complaint 168 in which the respondent party was Donji Vakuf Municipality whereby the complainant filed an application for zoning approval for the 164 The Law on Administrative Procedure of the Federation of BiH ("Official Gazette of FBiH” no. 2/98 and 48/99, the Law on General Administrative Procedure of the RS ("RS Official Gazette”, no. 13/02, 87/07 and 50/10) 165 Ž-SA-06 -769/18 166 Ž-SA-05-515/19 167 A document issued by the Centar Municipality no. 08-13-2014/19 dated 24 December 2019 168 Ž-SA-05-1017/18, 46