The judiciary in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a 'captive system' that is under the control of political power centers, which is most directly evidenced by the absence of prosecution of high corruption and/or cases related to holders of political power. At the same time, the 'Judiciary Transparency Index' testifies to the high degree of closure of judicial institutions and the absence of a proactive relationship with the media as key channels of communication with citizens.

This was highlighted ahead of the conference "Judiciary in BiH - situation and perspectives", which is being held today in Sarajevo, organized by Transparency International in BiH (TIBiH) and the Balkan Research Network of BiH (BIRNBiH), with financial support of the European Union (EU).

Rule of law

Alfredo Strippoli, Head of the Department for the Rule of Law in the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the EUSR, said on that occasion that an independent, professional, efficient and responsible judiciary is key to the functioning of the rule of law in the interest of all citizens of BiH.

- In the Opinion of the European Commission on BiH's application for membership, the rule of law is placed at the center of priority reforms - Strippoli pointed out, calling on the authorities in BiH to additionally engage in the implementation of the necessary reforms implied by candidate status for EU membership, especially in the area rule of law.

He assessed that it is high time for the authorities in BiH to "roll up their sleeves" and resolutely engage in the judicial reform process.

List of priorities

Among the priorities in this context, he included the passing of the law on the courts of BiH, amendments and additions, that is, the new law on the HJPC of BiH in accordance with European standards, and he especially emphasized the imperative - of intensifying the fight against corruption and organized crime.

Strippoli, at the same time, warned that the number of final convictions for high corruption is alarmingly low, and that, as he notes, legal lapses are accompanied by an extremely mild penal policy.

The President of the TI BiH Board of Directors, Srđan Blagovčanin, reminded that this association has been warning for a long time about the deterioration of the situation in terms of ubiquitous corruption in BiH, and about a kind of 'capture of the judiciary', which is under strong political influence.

He is of the opinion that the improvement of the situation in the judiciary, and above all the integrity of the judicial system, is a key step for creating assumptions for the fight against corruption.

Non-transparency issues

Blagovčanin assessed that the non-transparency of judicial institutions in BiH also represents a serious problem, reminding that TIBiH faces systemic obstructions in its work in terms of (dis)allowing access to information, and in which context he pointed out the Prosecutor's Office of BiH as a particularly negative example, undermines confidence in the work and credibility of the judiciary.

- Information on pre-signed cases was not submitted at the request of TIBiH, and we are witnesses that in the previous period, the issue of pre-signing was disputed and that disciplinary proceedings were conducted against the previous chief prosecutor due to such practices - said Blagovčanin in support of the latter claim.

The BIRN BiH Executive Director Denis Džidić told journalists that the conference, dedicated to the state and perspectives of the judiciary in BiH, comes at the end of a two-year project implemented by TI BiH and BIRN BiH, which included the creation of the 'Judicial Transparency Index' database.

- We mapped all the courts and prosecutor's offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina and created a methodology according to which we will test and rank which prosecutor's offices and courts are the most open, that is, the most closed - he explained.

Media freedom

He added that four parameters are being tested in this regard - the number of posts on the official websites of judicial institutions and how they respond to media inquiries, and inquiries under the Law on Freedom of Access to Information, i.e. how they respond to citizens when they request any type of information.

- The results are devastating. Our data shows that 90 percent of prosecutor's offices in BiH do not have any information about criminal cases on their websites. Half of the courts, or 50 percent of them, completely ignored media inquiries, and 42 percent of all courts and prosecutor's offices violated the legal deadline of 15 days to respond to an inquiry under the Law on Freedom of Access to Information. At the same time, 55 percent of the courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina do not publish information on first-instance verdicts - underlined Džidić.

At the conference, as announced, an online platform named 'Index of Justice' will be presented, which contains the results of the transparency index of courts and prosecutor's offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as information on cases of corruption and organized crime, as well as information on disciplinary procedures that are the subject of monitoring of TI BiH and BIRN within the project "Improving accountability through strengthening civil society networks - SANCUS".