Law Firm Haracic + Partners represented the plaintiff before the Municipal Court in Sarajevo in case number 65 0 P 1114004 24 P, initiated in 2024. The plaintiff’s goal was to disconnect from the district heating system, i.e., to terminate the contract with the public utility company. The plaintiff intended to use alternative heating sources – specifically electric heating and air conditioning.
In accordance with the Law on Communal Services of Sarajevo Canton and the Regulation on General Conditions for the Supply and Use of Thermal Energy, the plaintiff successfully proved in court:
- That there was a technical possibility for disconnection – the district heating pipes did not pass through the plaintiff’s apartment. This was confirmed by an expert witness in mechanical engineering.
- That disconnection would not negatively affect the heating quality of other users – the plaintiff had been heating the apartment using electric appliances, maintaining adequate temperature levels.
In addition to this evidence, it is a well-known fact that electric heating has no negative environmental impact. The plaintiff also obtained written consent from the other residents in the building, confirming their agreement with the disconnection.
The Municipal Court in Sarajevo accepted the presented evidence and issued a judgment terminating the contract on the use of thermal energy between the plaintiff and the public utility provider. In the reasoning, the court referred to Article 10 of the Law on Obligations of the Federation of BiH, which provides that parties may freely regulate their contractual relations; Article 11, which guarantees equality of the parties; and Article 14, which prohibits establishing or exploiting monopolies or creating unequal business relationships.
The court concluded that the plaintiff has the right to decide how to heat their property, and the defendant does not have the authority to impose its services. The supply of thermal energy is a legal obligation of the provider, but its use is a right, not an indefinite obligation on the part of the user. This view was also confirmed in the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Federation of BiH, case no. AP 1820/15 dated 20 December 2017.
Regarding the provisions of the Decision on General Conditions for the Production, Delivery, and Use of Thermal Energy (“Official Gazette of the City of Sarajevo” nos. 29/82, 8/89, 13/90, 14/91), which allowed only temporary disconnection, the court held that these cannot be applied in the current case. These regulations were adopted during the period of the former SFRY, under completely different political, social, and legal conditions—focused on protecting socially owned property—and are incompatible with today’s principles of a free market and constitutional property rights under the Constitution of BiH and the European Convention.
