Workshop at Vlašić "Processing of corruption offenses"
05.07.2019.
(Sarajevo, 5 July 2019) - A one-day workshop on a topic "Processing of corruption offenses" was held at Vlašić yesterday. The workshop was organized by the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HJPC BiH) within the IPA 2017 project "Building an Effective and Citizen-friendly Judiciary" funded by the EU through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance.
The workshop participants, judges and prosecutors dealing with corruption offenses, exchanged their experiences in processing of such cases. They talked about the length of proceedings in corruption cases, the penal policy in meting out sentence in corruption offenses and the proving of corruption with the aim of adopting common conclusions regarding important issues related to resolving these cases. Representatives of the OSCE Mission to BiH also presented the recommendations from the Project Report “Assessing Needs of Judicial Response to Corruption through Monitoring of Criminal Cases“, drafted in February 2019, based on the monitoring of corruption cases in BiH.
Ružica Jukić, Vice-president of the HJPC BiH opened the workshop. Goran Glamočanin, Prosecutor of the Special Department of the RS Prosecutor's Office, moderated and presented at the workshop.
Thanks to the European Union, within the IPA 2017 project the HJPC BiH implements significant activities aimed at improving the processing of corruption offenses. In order to implement the Strategy, a system will be introduced for detailed monitoring of the work of prosecutors and judges on corruption cases, starting from analysing the number and length of corruption cases.
The following conclusions were adopted at the workshop:
- Although the judiciary has taken some initial steps in applying the recommendations outlined in the OSCE's “Assessing Needs of Judicial Response to Corruption through Monitoring of Criminal Cases“ of 2018, this is not sufficient to establish progress in the processing of corruption offenses.
- With the aim of more efficient management of trials in complex cases of corruption, it is necessary that the HJPC BiH, in cooperation with the presidents of courts, develop guidelines that would help judges to more effectively manage the trials.
- The need for a more active role of the prosecutor during the investigation into the corruption case is noted.
- It is necessary to conduct continuous trainings of law enforcement officers, prosecutors and other staff in prosecutors' offices who, upon the order of the prosecutor, work on the cases, as well as to insist on improving the inclusive training for the newly appointed.
- When delivering verdicts, judges need to pay particular attention to the quality reasoning of their decisions on corruption offenses.
- Courts throughout BiH should adopt a harmonized penal policy in high-profile corruption cases, which would take appropriate account of the gravity of the offense committed and ensure deterrent function of the criminal sanction.
- In order to harmonize the case law, it is necessary to create a single database of the final court decisions on corruption cases.
- There is a need for continuous organization of joint workshops and meetings of prosecutors and judges with the aim of creating discussions on current issues related to the processing of corruption offenses and the adoption of common conclusions.
The project "Building an Effective and Citizen-friendly Judiciary" is funded by the European Union in the amount of EUR 5.95 million for the period 2018-2021 and it is part of the wider EU support to the justice sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
For any additional information, please contact the Cabinet of HJPC BiH Presidency at 033 707 570.
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