After the warning of TI BiH: Application of amendments to the Law on HJPC prevented, BiH judiciary blocked?

By adopting the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Law on Amendments to the Law on the HJPC, requesting the extension of the application of the Law after December 23, the members of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) showed that the earlier warnings, which Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH ) referred to the content but also the problematic procedure of amending such important laws, was well founded.

HJPC at the session held on October 18, acknowledged problems when applying the new powers regarding the verification of property records of judges and prosecutors, as well as that they would not be implemented by the date when the law was supposed to enter into force because, among other things, a special reporting department that should implement those activities was not established. This practically means that it is not possible to appoint new judges and prosecutors, leading to a blockade of the entire judiciary in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

With this, the earlier warnings of TI BiH pointing to the changes in the law while they were in the procedure, indicating the possibility of blocking the procedure of delivery and exchange of property records and potentially making the verification process itself meaningless, and that the proposed changes to the Law on the HJPC do not allow for complete transparency and responsibility of institutions and holders of judicial functions, came true.

Of particular concern is the issue of the conflict of interests of holders of judicial functions and members of the Council, which remains unresolved, with an unjustified reduction in the scope of relatives and related persons to whom it applies, while inadequate sanctions, the possibility of refusing to declare assets or the absence of the obligation to declare assets of close relatives, and the danger of selective access to checks, are only some of the problematic things that Transparency International pointed out in its comments.

TI BIH also warned that during the drafting of this law, numerous recommendations of the Venice Commission were ignored and that the ad hoc corrections that the Council of Ministers of BiH made to the draft law were criticized by numerous international organizations, including the Delegation of the European Union to BiH, while the transparency of the process itself, from which both the professional public and civil society organizations were excluded, was extremely damaged.

The last session of the HJPC, i.e. the proposal to extend the application of the Law due to the problems the proponent was warned about, and which were ignored, is proof that the BH judiciary is in complete institutional captivity, while, thanks to the actions of the Ministry of Justice and the Council of Ministers, Bosnia and Herzegovina found itself on the verge of complete legal uncertainty and a chaotic state.

The Law on the HJPC is one of the key reform laws, the adoption of which conditions fulfillment of 14 priorities that stand in the way of further integration of BiH to the EU, which is why TI BiH once again warns that inadequate or truncated legal solutions not only call into question the purpose of existence of the law, confirming the suspicions that the government’s intention is to present a semblance of progress on the European path, while avoiding the implementation of essential reforms necessary for the establishment of a minimum of responsibility and the rule of law in BiH.

Transparency International calls on the HJPC, the Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as all relevant actors to take, without delay, all measures and actions to establish the necessary institutional and legal mechanisms, and ensure appropriate resources, in order to facilitate the process of appointing judges and prosecutors, that is, to prevent the blockade of BH judiciary.