The set of recommendations and guidelines for deployment of police liaisons from BiH to the international police organisations were presented on 20 December as part of the second Steering Board meeting of EU-funded Project “Strengthening Law Enforcement” implemented with the aim to further advance police service and strengthen cooperation, coordination and efficiency in the fight against organized crime, terrorism and corruption.
“This document provides a detailed overview of all relevant issues which have to be seriously taken into consideration by BiH in seizing opportunities and avoiding obstacles in regards to the deployment of the police liaisons to international police organisations“, said Project Leader Kurt Hager of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Interior while officially handing over the document to Assistant BiH Minister of Security Samir Rizvo in his capacity of Beneficiary Country Project Leader.
The analysis revealed that there is currently no proper legal framework in BiH to regulate conditions, selection, preparation and the deployment of police liaisons to the international police organisations, their rights and obligations or an oversight of their work. This is what the document addresses in detail.
“This document is therefore very important step towards having this important issue legally regulated by the relevant authorities. This is of particular relevance for the deployment of liaison to Europol as the top priority. This will not only enable BiH law enforcement to start utilising tools and capacities of Europol in fighting crime but also the advantages for fostering bilateral police cooperation”, noted Rizvo.
The task of police liaisons is to facilitate exchange of data between the relevant bodies of the countries which requires access to relevant operational and administrative database either directly or via a single point of contact (SPOC) for international police cooperation. In this regard, too, the document highlights the best EU practice in use. These, among other, include the establishment of ‘one-stop shop’ for all international police cooperation channels which would bring aboard representatives of all law enforcement, the efficient and effective “workflow system” as well as availability of police and crime intelligence databases.
This document will be distributed to all relevant bodies of authority in BiH for further action. “We ensured that the recommendations and guidelines follow the best EU practices which once implemented I am confident will help colleagues in BiH make the best possible use of international police cooperation benefits,” concluded Hager.
Project “Strengthening Law Enforcement” is implemented in BiH with the aim to further advance police service and strengthen cooperation, coordination and efficiency in the fight against organized crime, terrorism and corruption. This project is led by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Interior and the Agency for European Integration and Economic Development (AEI) in cooperation with the Ministries of Interior of Croatia and Slovenia and funded by the European Union in amount of EUR 4.5 million from the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA 2012).
