Public hearing rules Print

AFTER ADOPTION OF THE RULES OF HEARING PROCEDURES

 The public has been invited to give their comments on the Draft Rules of Public Hearing Procedures of the SERC.

They could do that in different manners until February 4, 2005. The SERC has concluded that the content of this

document during the public hearing period did not draw any attention of members of the public or, surprisingly,

of representatives of regulated entities whose applications shall be processed by the SERC, in accordance with

the rules established by this document. This is the reason why the SERC has given importance to the comments

made on similar documents which were presented to the public by the regulators of the Republika Srpska and

BiH Federation.

 

Well-intended observations of the members of expert public made the SERC check once again the general

concept and individual rules of procedure which shall be applied. The SERC had to carefully consider the interest

of expert public: whether it is fully autonomous in the capacity of a regulatory body when developing rules and

regulations in accordance with which the parties shall participate in proceedings and based on which the

regulator shall issue its decisions. This is the reason why the legislator had to be consulted and its will,

expressed in a range of laws establishing the institution of the regulator, had to be discovered, as well as to

what extent they precisely determine the legal nature, status, role, and competence of the regulator.

 

The SERC explored in detail a range of state laws, and corrected some provisions of the Rules of Public

Procedures in its final version in order to include, to a greater extent, basic procedural principles which shall

govern its proceedings, and to clearly determine and protect the respective rights and obligations of the parties

in the proceeding, thus ensuring legal grounds for its actions and decisions.

 

The final version of the Rules, adopted at the session of the Commission held on May 24, 2005, is a result

of the current view of the SERC that the envisaged types of hearings before the SERC and established

procedural institutes, especially those present in the formal type of hearings, correspond to the relevant laws.

At the same time, the SERC is aware that the substance of some parts of the Rules of Public Procedures is

very technical, complex and demanding. This substance stimulates interest and obligation to continuously

monitor, critically revise and evaluate the application of this document. The SERC shall not restrain itself to

revise the Rules if its provisions prove to be disputable in theory and unfeasible in practice.

 

The SERC shall be grateful to receive and review each suggestion which may contribute to further improvements

of this document