The new building of the Prosecutor’s Office of Zenica-Doboj Canton, built with the EU/IPA funds, was officially opened today in Zenica.
The construction of this building represents the EU’s continued efforts to increase judicial efficiency and ensure adequate services for the BiH citizens.
Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to BiH Khaldoun Sinno underlined that the rule of law is the key part of the recently published Country Report noting that only with strong rule of law and effective institutions Bosnia and Herzegovina can advance on the EU path.
“The judiciary is a guarantee of the rule of law in every country, represented, in essence, by courts and prosecutors’ offices. The quality of the work of judiciary institutions is among the others directly dependent on working conditions for the employees and other parties in court proceedings. That is why the EU has allocated a significant amount of funds to renovation, reconstruction, and even construction of new buildings for courts and prosecutors’ offices throughout BiH,” Sinno said at the opening ceremony in Zenica.
Over the last 15 years the EU has supported the justice sector in BiH with over EUR 50 million. In addition to the support to physical infrastructures, the EU has also massively invested in information and communication systems of all courts and prosecutors’ offices, and in supporting the reduction of the backlog of cases, with a particular focus on war crimes cases processing. The overall goal of this support is to strengthen the independence, accountability, impartiality, professionalism and efficiency of the judicial and prosecutorial systems in line with European standards.
Miralem Galijašević, Prime Minister of the Zenica-Doboj Canton emphasised that the new Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office building will enable the cantonal judiciary to comply with European standards and expectations and needs of the citizens.
Jadranka Lokmić-Misirača, Vice-President of the High Judicial and Prosecutor’s Council welcomed the EU’s continued efforts to increase the judicial efficiency in the country.
Vesna Kaknjo, Chief Prosecutor of the Zenica-Doboj Canton said that the new building of the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office represents a reward for their previous efforts as well as the motivation for the future work.
“We are confident that the new highly sophisticated spatial capacities will also be an incentive for more efficient work of the Prosecutor’s Office in the coming period,” Kaknjo stated.
Construction work on the building Prosecutor’s Office of the Zenica-Doboj Canton financed by the EU with more than EUR 1.3 million began in March 2015 and lasted 14 months. The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Norwegian government have also contributed to the project.
The project is part of a broader package of EU assistance in the rehabilitation and modernization of courts and prosecutors’ offices throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina in support of strengthening the rule of law.
