The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council has announced proceedings against holders of judicial functions who did not declare their assets, it was said at the regular session where Alena Kurspahić Nadarević was again appointed as the chief disciplinary prosecutor. says Detektor.
After the European Commission criticized the work of the judiciary in BiH in its progress report, Sanin Bogunić, president of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HJPC BiH), said that he had no formal contact with the negative report and that he does not consider the judiciary to be the weakest link.
“The poor functioning of the judicial system continues to undermine the rights of citizens and the fight against corruption,” the Commission’s report states, and that legal reforms and integrity checks are key to rebuilding public trust in the judicial system.
Bogunić: The HJPC is in the restructuring phase
Bogunić says that the HJPC is in the phase of restructuring and passing a new law.
“It greatly hindered us in our work and created pressure on the holders of judicial positions. We preserved the system, we introduced a system of reporting on the judiciary, we showed that the system is alive and soon we will have the final consequences,” Bogunić said.
Detektor previously wrote that the Council of Ministers adopted the Draft Law on the HJPC in March this year. Earlier, amendments to this law were adopted in which it was foreseen that a completely new law would be adopted within a year, but that deadline was broken.
He added that soon work will be done to start proceedings against the holders of judicial positions who “violated the legal provisions”.
More than a hundred current and former judges and prosecutors have not declared their assets to the highest judicial body, and reports have been submitted to disciplinary prosecutors against those currently in office, but the proceedings have not yet been initiated, it was confirmed earlier for Detektor.
Today, the Council gave its opinion on the Draft Law on limiting the disposal of assets for the purpose of preventing terrorism, financing terrorism and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Rusmir Šabeta, head of the Department for judicial analytics and reporting, said that they are part of ten subgroups that will prepare reports in cooperation with the body formed by the Council of Ministers of BiH for the preparation of a national risk assessment on money laundering.
“The purpose of the formation of that subgroup is to produce a report and a plan proposal that will be submitted to the permanent body of the BiH Council of Ministers,” Šabeta said.
It is necessary to improve the fight against terrorism
Yesterday, it was stated in the report of the European Commission that it is necessary to improve the fight against terrorism, even though the legal framework is partially harmonized with the European Union. Detektor previously wrote that the Council of the European anti-corruption body Moneyval called on BiH to improve its measures in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. The report called for the implementation of the Strategy and action plans for the fight against terrorism and violent extremism for the period 2021-2026.
At the session, the mandate of Alena Kurspahić Nadarević was extended as chief disciplinary prosecutor.
It was noted that by the end of the year they have two more sessions of the HJPC and that by then the plan for the first six months of 2026 on improving the work of the judiciary should be considered.
At the session, a report on the introduction of a qualified electronic signature was read and a conclusion was reached that all holders of judicial positions will have an electronic signature for simpler and faster work, and that in cooperation with the Agency for Identification Documents, Records and Data Exchange (IDDEEA), mobile teams will be formed that will in the coming period solve the electronic signature for each position holder.
However, this signature will not only be reserved for holders of judicial functions, but will be able to be used by any individual in Bosnia and Herzegovina who wishes to do so.
