Ambassador Field disappointed by the number of corruption and war crimes cases

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Bosnia and Herzegovina, H.E. Matthew Field, together with his deputy Dr. Ruth Wiseman and the Head of the Western Balkans Programme Unit at the UK Foreign Office, Nick Latt, visited the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina today and held a meeting with the President of the BiH Court, Ranko Debevec.

The meeting discussed the impact of the project financed by the Government of the United Kingdom, implemented by the AIRE Centre, which provides support to the BiH Court in the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights, and its continuation. They also discussed the implementation of recommendations from the OSCE report "Judicial Needs Assessment in Prosecuting Corruption through Monitoring Criminal Cases" in the domain related to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The President of the BiH Court, Ranko Debevec, welcomed the ambassador and thanked him for the continuous support of the United Kingdom to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, emphasizing that the rule of law is of key importance for the European perspective of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ambassador Field expressed full support for the work of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially its work on prosecuting cases of corruption, organized crime, and war crimes, and for the further strengthening of the rule of law in the process of the region's integration into the EU, the BiH Court announced.

Ambassador Field commented on the visit on his official Twitter profile, stating that OSCE data shows that the number of convictions for war crimes in BiH fell from 86 percent in 2014 to 39 percent in 2018.

"The number and profile of those accused of corruption is 'equally disappointing with de facto impunity for these crimes'," Field wrote, adding that all institutions need to do their job.