Services
Legal Assistance
The provision of legal assistance to Majlises is carried out in two main directions:
- Legal assistance aimed at protecting waqf property.
- Legal assistance to ensure compliance with the normative acts of the Islamic Community that regulate the management and disposal of waqf property.
Regular activities related to the Waqf Directorate's work with Majlises mainly include:
- Undertaking activities for the protection, enhancement, and revitalization of waqf properties throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- Initiating legal disputes and administrative procedures to protect waqfs before domestic courts and administrative bodies.
- Providing legal assistance to Majlises of the Islamic Community on waqf property matters.
- Conducting the process of dedicating properties, movable assets, and financial resources as waqfs and preparing Vakufnamas for donors.
- Supervising and conducting the process of waqf transformation (exchanging waqf properties for other properties, selling waqf properties to acquire new properties in favor of waqfs, etc.).
- Monitoring the leasing procedures of waqf properties.
- Appointing mutevellis (waqf trustees).
- Conducting activities related to the inventory of waqf properties in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- Regular visits to Majlises and holding educational and professional seminars.
- Performing other tasks related to waqf property.
Issuance of Vakufnamas
The Waqf Directorate is the only institution within the Islamic Community authorized to issue Vakufnamas for dedicated properties. Different Vakufnamas are issued for financial waqfs and real estate waqfs. Vakufnama is a document and certificate recognized within the Islamic Community as formal proof of a waqf dedication.
The design of the Vakufnama is predetermined, and the Waqf Directorate issues them following a defined procedure in accordance with waqf dedication rules. Vakufnamas are issued in two copies—one is given to the donor, while the other is archived in the Waqf Directorate.
Each waqf dedication is recorded in the Book of Waqf Donors, which is kept at the Waqf Directorate. Upon request, a copy of previously issued Vakufnamas can be provided.
Mediation Services
As the institution managing waqf properties, the Waqf Directorate often implements joint investment projects with investors. In this context, the Waqf Directorate assists Majlises in designing optimal waqf projects, preparing them, and finding potential investors. In addition to acting as a mediator, the Waqf Directorate also oversees and monitors project implementation, ensuring compliance with the normative acts that regulate these matters.
Legal Representation
Between 1998 and 1999, the Waqf Directorate initiated numerous legal proceedings to prevent the usurpation of waqf properties, particularly in the territory of the Republika Srpska. In addition to regular court proceedings, cases were brought before the Human Rights Ombudsman and the Human Rights Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These processes were initiated to protect waqf properties in Bijeljina, Zvornik, Prnjavor, Čajniče, and other cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
These activities can be viewed from two perspectives. The first involves representing waqfs in their registration and management according to the regulations of the Islamic Community. To fulfill this requirement, various regulations have been enacted, addressing multiple key issues, including the registration of both existing and newly established waqfs.
As part of these activities, the Waqf Directorate has actively participated in numerous administrative proceedings, including:
- Adoption of regulatory plans.
- Expropriation of waqf properties.
- Issuance of construction permits.
- Addressing illegal usurpation of waqf properties.
- Recovery of waqf properties under existing legal provisions.
Regarding the number of such cases, the Waqf Directorate has actively participated in over 2,000 legal proceedings of this nature.