EU Delegation: Authorities must urgently take steps to improve judicial integrity

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - In an open letter dated January 28, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina called on the competent authorities to equally regulate the submission, verification, and processing of financial reports of judicial office holders. On this occasion, the European Union Delegation to BiH issued a statement, noting that this is a constructive approach which, alongside ongoing processes, should lead to credible integrity checks. 

"The Analytical Report annexed to the European Commission's opinion on BiH's application for EU membership states that 'the absence of an effective system for submitting, verifying, and processing financial reports seriously affects the credibility of efforts to strengthen integrity in the judiciary'. Integrity is crucial for an independent, impartial, responsible, professional, and efficient judiciary," the EU Delegation to BiH stated in its press release. 

They further emphasize that the report of the group of experts on rule of law issues in BiH, published in December 2019, states that, "in order to restore public trust, the judiciary must immediately demonstrate full transparency and determination to establish a rigorous and credible system for checking the asset declarations of judicial office holders."

"The European Union supports all efforts to operationalize the findings of the group of experts' report on strengthening judicial transparency. We call on all relevant authorities to take urgent steps to improve the integrity of the judiciary in BiH," the statement highlighted.