Key reforms in Bosnia’s judiciary are being resisted from within the country’s judicial system and due to “limited results on the objectives of judicial reform,” the European Commission (EC) is currently reviewing the effectiveness of its financial support allocated to Bosnia’s top judicial institution, a European Commission spokesperson told N1 on Monday.
N1 asked the EC about the news that it might discontinue its financial assistance for judicial reform to Bosnia’s top judicial institution, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) – the institution which oversees Bosnia's judiciary and, among other things, names and disciplines judicial officials.
According to EC Spokesperson, Ana Pisonero Hernandez, the EC has provided more than 30 million Euro to strengthen the independence, integrity and efficiency of Bosnia's judiciary, “especially through direct allocations to the HJPC”, throughout the past 15 years.
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“The EU regrets that implementation of key reforms is being resisted from within Bosnia and Herzegovina’s judicial system and beyond. It regrets in particular that no progress has been made on the establishment of a meaningful system of integrity checks, in line with the Commission’s recommendations and findings of the Independent Expert Report on the Rule of Law issues in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” her statement to N1 said.
The limited results in implementing the objectives of judicial reforms “risk undermining the effectiveness of EU support to the Judiciary and to the HJPC,” she said.
“The European Commission is therefore reviewing the effectiveness of its financial support allocated to the HJPC, including through an independent evaluation which is currently being conducted,” she added.
Pisonero Hernandez reiterated that the EU will continue to urge for judicial reform in the country and will continue to support the rights of citizens to an independent, impartial and accountable judiciary.
“Rule of law is the key criterion on the EU path of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The lack of progress in this field strongly undermines the country’s progress,” she concluded.
