EU-BiH Structured Dialogue on Justice held in Banja Luka

The second day of the 6th EU-BiH Structured Dialogue on Justice plenary meeting was held today in the premises of the RS government in Banja Luka. Director at the European Commission, Mr. Pierre Mirel, co-chair for the EU of this exercise, commended the engagement of all parties in the two-day dialogue, which was focused on issues related to war crimes processing, as well as on key institutional reforms that have been developed in the course of the past months, but that are still pending finalization and final political consensus.

In regard to this latter issue, Mr Mirel emphasized that reforms are expected to clear the ground from all previous misunderstandings, ease trust and also allow the consolidation of, once per all, indisputable, non-contested, judiciary institutions at all levels throughout BiH, including at the state level, based on genuine ownership. To this end, the proponent of relevant legislation is expected to consolidate the widest possible political consensus, maintaining as terms of reference at the same time, the relevant recommendations issued by the European Commission in the framework of the Structured Dialogue, as well as in the relevant opinions issued by the Venice Commission at the Council of Europe. Reforms are expected to guarantee steps further towards the irreversible entrenchment of the rule of law in the country.

Citizens throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina deserve a truly independent, credible, effective, efficient, impartial and accountable judiciary. Representatives of the European Commission also stressed that several achievements could be registered in the course of the past two years and a half, since the Structured Dialogue on Justice was first kicked off by Commissioner Füle: regional cooperation in war crimes processing has advanced with the protocols between prosecutors; the referral of war crimes cases was carried out; measures to tackle the backlog of cases started to be implemented; consensus was built on the main terms of key reforms. Following six plenary meetings, it is clear that each plenary debate presented opportunities and allowed some steps forward; yet, some of these opportunities have not yet been fully exploited.

On issues related to the implementation of the ECtHR ruling in the Maktouf and Damjanovic case, the European Commission urged competent BiH authorities to comply without delays with the request put forward by the Department for Execution of ECtHR Judgments at the Council of Europe and inform about individual and general measures to address the impact of the Maktouf/Damjanovic jurisprudence. It recalled that harmonised courts practice in the application of substantive criminal law to war crimes processing remains an important objective. Equality of citizens before the law and harmonised jurisprudence are a key aspects in the ongoing effort to the advance clearing the war crimes cases backlog throughout the BiH judiciary. Justice for war crimes is a crucial endeavor, for the victims, their families, as well as for the broader efforts towards reconciling societies. All war criminals must be brought to justice and duly processed.

Europa.ba