(Sarajevo, 4 July 2023) – The implementation of activities aimed at strengthening the efficiency and quality of justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina through the application of standards and tools developed by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) was in the focus of the visit of CEPEJ representatives on 3-4 July 2023. The visit marks the start of the Strengthening the Efficiency and Quality of Justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina project implemented within the framework of the joint European Union and the Council of Europe Programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey - HF III.

A particular focus of the visit was on the presentation of the methodology and standards applied by CEPEJ to improve the functioning of the judiciary in all 46 Council of Europe member states, which the HJPC BiH and the basic and municipal pilot courts from Cazin, Livno, Trebinje, Brcko and Sokolac should intensively apply in order to strengthen the efficiency and quality of the justice system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The pilot courts have been chosen by the Council of Europe based on the geographical representation and size of the courts.

“This project is different as it reflects the joint partnership among the European Union, the Council of Europe, and the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice that TOGETHER we have a shared responsibility to promote and enhance the efficiency of our justice systems. In fact, this cooperation has been instrumental in promoting and safeguarding the principles of justice across our continent, fostered legal harmonization, established common standards, and facilitated the exchange of best practices among member states and EU WB acceding countries”, said Enrico Vinsentin, Programme Manager in the EU Delegation to BiH.

From the perspective of the BIh judiciary, Admir Suljagic, Director of the HJPC BiH Secretariat, pointed out that the courts and prosecutor's offices in BiH are already applying CEPEJ standards of efficiency and performance monitoring, and that they will continue to do so through the application of latest standards. "It is very important that the judiciary of BiH be recognized as an important partner of CEPEJ in reforms aimed at strengthening the rule of law, ensuring legal certainty and equal access to justice for all citizens of BiH", added Suljagić.

The primary goal of the discussion was to identify the challenges that pilot courts face with respect to efficiency and quality, with special reference to the organisation of court work, digitalisation of justice and the use of judicial statistics. Activities that can help overcome the identified challenges were also presented. Representatives of CEPEJ paid a visit to the Basic Court in Sokolac, where they spoke with the Court President and staff members about specific activities to be jointly implemented in an effort to improve the efficiency and quality of the court.

As pointed out by CEPEJ, their immediate efforts will be focused on capacity building of the BIH judiciary to gather, process, and analyse judicial performance data and judicial statistics, which will consequently contribute to the improvement of efficiency and quality of justice. This work will be based on developed methodology, standards, and tools.

The member of the delegation were Mr Georg Stawa, Counsellor for Southeast Europe in the Federal Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Austria, Mr. Ivan Crncec, Justice Sector Reform Expert in the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration of the Republic of Croatia, Mr. Milan Nikolic, Co-secretary of the CEPEJ-SATURN Working Group, Mr. Vahagn Muradyan, Deputy Head of Council of Europe Office in Sarajevo, Mr. Enrico Vinsentin, Programme Manager in the EU Delegation to BiH, Ms Anastasia Nohovitsyna, Project Coordinator for BiH and Albania and Žoao de Oliveria, expert.