Lawyers in BiH warn: If compensation for defence counsel by default is not paid by August 1st, they will stop working!

(Patria) - Bar Associations of the Federation and RS have issued a public statement warning that compensation and costs for defence counsel by default before the Court and Prosecutor's Office of BiH have not been paid.

"Bearing in mind the generally known fact that lawyers who act as defence counsel by default before the Court and Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina have not been paid compensation for representation and costs since December 2023, as well as the fact that the budget of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina has not been adopted and that temporary financing is in effect, and that the Bar Associations of RS and FBiH have already addressed the competent institutions on this matter, we believe it is necessary to resolve the mentioned problem as soon as possible," the statement reads.

They add: "Given that temporary financing implies financing at the level of the previous year, it is quite clear that lawyers are excluded from this item as well. Namely, the Court of BiH has postponed the submission of payment orders prepared in January and February 2024 for months, and these were only delivered to lawyers in June 2024, obviously creating the illusion that there are no obligations towards lawyers, and the budget item for financing defence by default has obviously been changed and redirected to financing salary increases for judges and other employees of the Court of BiH, which is unacceptable. This is not the first time that the BiH budget has not been adopted at the beginning of the year, but it is the first time that lawyers have been completely excluded from financing".

"Given the above, as well as the fact that lawyers are not obliged to personally advance costs, and that it is necessary to enable lawyers to redirect their time to cases for which they receive compensation, as a transitional solution, we propose that in all cases before the Court of BiH where defence counsel by default are acting, no more than one hearing per month be scheduled in the upcoming period, and in detention cases, no more than two hearings per month. If the Court of BiH does not accept this transitional solution, the bar associations will decide to immediately suspend work on all cases where defence counsel by default are acting, the statement from the associations states.

In conclusion, they state: "If the issue of paying compensation to defence counsel by default is not resolved by August 1, 2024, both bar associations will take a joint stance that lawyers completely suspend work on cases where they act as defence counsel by default".