On 19 March 2007, a memorandum of understanding on the procurement of a new wireless telecommunication system for the needs of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) and courts and prosecutors’ offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina was signed by Ambassador Dimitris Kourkoulas, Head of the European Commission Delegation to BiH, Mr. Sredoje Novic, BiH Minister of Civil Affairs, Mr. Branko Peric, President of the HJPC and Mr. Sinisa Macan, Head of the Directorate for implementation of the CIPS project.

This memorandum is the continuation of the EC support for Information Communication Technology (ICT) programmes in BiH, in which the EU has already invested, or is planning to invest, around 5.6 million euro. The new system will link the HJPC with courts and prosecutors’ offices and law enforcement agencies, and will enable safe and fast exchange of information and statistical monitoring of these institutions.

Ambassador Dimitris Kourkoulas said that judicial reform is an area where BiH has made significant progress in the past years and could serve as an example for other reforms. He noted that the rule of law could not be achieved without an independent judiciary, which is important not only for a democratic society but also for economic and social development. He added that the objective of the memorandum is to ensure a safe exchange of information between the courts, prosecutors’ offices and the police throughout the country, as well as to improve the efficiency of courts and prosecutors’ offices in dealing with a backlog of one million pending cases.

HJPC President Branko Peric said the memorandum would complete the ICT system reform in the BIH judiciary, and stressed that ICT programmes financed by the EC so far have helped speed up the overall judicial reform in which the number of courts and judicial administration personnel has been reduced by 30 and 40 percent respectively. 

BiH Civil Affairs Minister Sredoje Novic highlighted the importance of ICT coordination within the judicial system, which will facilitate the exchange of information and access to the central data base.

For several years, the EU has provided financial and political support for judicial reform: first to the Independent Judicial Commission and then to the HJPC, which replaced it. The establishment of the single HJPC was the first feasibility study priority which BiH fulfilled. 

The EU has provided 1.141,063 euro for this project.