The closure of the Registry is a very important step for the judiciary of Bosnia Herzegovina: it signals that the country must now take full responsibility and ownership to ensure an independent, effective and functional judiciary which addresses the fight against impunity, and guarantees fundamental rights to all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Since its establishment in 2004, the Registry of the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of BiH has been essential in providing administrative, legal and support services by channelling the financial assistance from the international community to these two institutions for the areas of war crimes, organised crime and corruption and economic crimes.
The Registry directly contributed to the reinforcement of the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of BiH as state judicial institutions, including through the deployment of international judges and prosecutors, as well as other international and national experts, within these institutions.
The Registry, under the supervision of the Transition Council, helped the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of BiH to establish functioning structures in a very challenging and complex context.
Over 60 million euro have been provided by international donors – United States of America, European Union/European Commission, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, France, Turkey, Luxembourg, Greece, Poland, Finland and Portugal, and Bosnia and Herzegovina – from 2004 to 2012 in support of the judiciary in order to help achieve this.
The Registry implemented the plan for its transition to domestic institutions as foreseen in the second 2006 Registry Agreement and in line with the relevant recommendation handed over in conclusion of the 2nd session of the EU-BiH Structured Dialogue on Justice of November 2011. The Registry ceased its main activities in December 2012 with the departure of the last international and national staff, and is now concluding a 6-month closure process.
Support will continue to be provided to the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of BiH and other justice institutions in BiH by several of the donor countries as a new phase of the partnership with BiH in ensuring the efficient delivery of justice for the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The responsibility lies now with the authorities of BiH to consolidate the capacities and further build on the achievements, take over full ownership and ensure that both the Court and the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH are able to continue operating with adequate human and financial resources. The international donors call on the responsible institutions and politicians at all levels to jointly strengthen the Rule of Law in BiH, ensure continuity in the processing of war crime cases, step up the fight against corruption and organised crime and, to this end, support the judicial institutions throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly at the state level, while refraining from any actions that undermine these institutions and reverse the progress achieved.
