TI BiH sends the message to the MPs of the Republic of Srpska: Improve the definition of an organized criminal group and delete the criminal offense Violation court’s reputation

The criminal offense Violation of court’s reputation should be erased from the Draft Criminal Code since it could seriously violate the existing civil and media freedom

Banja Luka, 8th February 2017 — Transparency International in Bosnia ad Herzegovina (TI BiH) submitted to the parliamentary caucuses of the Republic of Srpska National Assembly (NA RS) its comments on the Draft Criminal Code. The Draft will be on the agenda of the 16th regular session of the NS RS which started with work yesterday.
In its comments TI BiH emphasized that there is a need to expand the definition of the organized criminal group in accordance with the international sources (such as UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime) in order to legally identify all groups whose actual activities are related to the organized crime. The proponent also suggested unusually high number of criminal offenses against the constitutional organization and safety, and it would be appropriate to examine the grounds of individual criminal offenses.
TI BiH also believes that the Violation of court’s reputation should be erased from the Draft Criminal Code since the right to publicly comment the work of national bodies has been guaranteed as a constitutional right. This offense defined as „exposure of a court or a judge to the mockery“ may seriously violate civil and media freedom since it limits the freedom of expression of opinion.

Press rls – 08.02.2017.