A Workshop on the Mechanism for the Review of Implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), held on 24 and 25 January 2013 in Sarajevo, was hosted by the BiH Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies and officially opened with welcome address by Mr. Vjekoslav Vukovic, Assistant BiH Minister of Security for Fight against Terrorism, Organized Crime, Corruption, War Crimes and Narcotic Abuse. The Workshop focused on strengthening of the institutional capacities of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and other stakeholders in BiH which are dealing with the implementation of the Convention. One of the main goals of the Workshop was the transfer of theoretical and practical knowledge and experiences that will serve as guidance for the LEAs and other key players in BiH to successfully fulfil the tasks and requirements of the UNCAC review mechanism.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a signatory of this legally binding international anti-corruption instrument since 2006, following the ratification of the Convention. In July 2010 Bosnia and Herzegovina was selected by the Implementation Review Group (IRG) to undergo a 2013 review process of its implementation of the UNCAC Chapters III and IV dealing with the Criminalisation, Enforcement and Mutual Legal Assistance.

Mr. Vjekoslav Vukovic underlined that “This UN Convention has become an international obligation of all member countries in terms of compliance with a certain number of provisions concerning corruptive behaviour, money laundering, behaviour of officials, protection of the whistleblowers, and many other areas. Without a certain level of the implementation review, one cannot know what problems occur in the process. Therefore, a mechanism has been established for monitoring and review of the manner and level of the implementation of the Convention. Today, we are learning about that which we will be applying throughout this entire year, and which we can later apply to the BiH legislation”.

The Workshop was organised by the EU funded project „EU Support to Law Enforcement“ in cooperation with the BiH Ministry of Security and the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies BiH, and it represents one of the project activities planned under the Component III dealing with fight against corruption. Over the course of the Workshop, experts from the Austrian Federal Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAK) shared their knowledge with BiH colleagues about the complex theoretical part of the review mechanism and presented their experiences in the use of self-assessment tools. The Workshop agenda comprised practical group exercises delivered by the participants under expert guidance. Recommendations resulting from the Workshop will be used to further increase BiH capacities and overall effectiveness in the implementation of UNCAC. This will in turn strengthen the law enforcement response in the fight against corruption and ultimately raise awareness of how this universal phenomenon is damaging our economy and society in general.

The project „EU Support to Law Enforcement“ is funded by the EU in the amount of 7 Million EUR, from the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA 2010). The project started on 2 May 2012 and it will continue until 30 April 2014. The project consortium partners include the Ministries of Interior of the Republic of Austria, Republic of Slovenia, Hungary, and of the Land Brandenburg of the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), and Transparency International BiH (as an Associate). Beneficiary partners are BiH law enforcement agencies at state, entity, cantonal and Brčko District level.