While facing threats of funding cuts and bans on communicating with the HJPC, judges and prosecutors from the RS refuse to speak publicly

Following public threats by Milorad Dodik and Radovan Višković to cut funding for disobedient courts and prosecutor's offices in the Republika Srpska, a disciplinary proceeding now suggests that judges and prosecutors have been advised to stop communicating with the state-level judicial body (HJPC). Detektor could not find examples of funding being cut, but judges and prosecutors, in a series of off-the-record conversations and declined calls, described the atmosphere within the entity's judiciary as “delicate.”

Mirjana Hrustić, a judge of the Basic Court in Derventa, stated on Thursday, 15 May 2025, before the first-instance disciplinary commission investigating her responsibility for delays in deciding cases, that she came to the hearing “at risk” and requested that her appearance be recognized as a mitigating circumstance.

Presenting her defense, she said she had previously received an email in which holders of judicial institutions were told not to “communicate with the HJPC and not to consider it valid.”

This is the first public acknowledgment that there are other direct pressures on judges and prosecutors in the Republika Srpska, following a series of pressure attempts and threats of funding cuts that the entity's president and prime minister repeated in recent weeks after the first-instance conviction of Milorad Dodik. Dodik had earlier demanded that the entity's judiciary operate according to recently adopted laws that were annulled by the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Detektor contacted all courts and prosecutor's offices in the Republika Srpska, and according to responses from two-thirds of them, financial conditioning has not yet been implemented in reality, and they continue to receive money from the entity budget. However, courts and prosecutor's offices are not ready to speak publicly about the pressures they face and how this affects their work.

Judge Hrustić did not agree to speak officially to Detektor after the hearing.

She stated, like at least ten other judges and prosecutors from the Republika Srpska contacted by Detektor, that she performs her job professionally and independently, and that pressures do not affect her daily work.

But in off-the-record conversations, most describe the atmosphere in courts and prosecutor's offices as “delicate.”

A judge from a basic court in the eastern part of the Republika Srpska said that discussing pressures could “put my court in an awkward situation,” while declining to talk.

The president of a court from the Republika Srpska described the atmosphere as “delicate” while refusing to discuss the topic, justifying that it could endanger his employees. The situation is indeed delicate, but that does not prevent us from doing our job professionally, the judge said.

A number of other judges and prosecutors refused to talk, claiming they continue to do their job and do not heed political pressures.

Only one holder of a judicial function in the Republika Srpska, out of more than a dozen contacted by Detektor, agreed to speak publicly.

“We are doing our job as we have done so far, and we are functioning normally,” said Živana Bajić, president of the Association of Prosecutors in the RS, in an interview with Detektor, adding that she is not aware of any prosecutor having their salary cut.

This conversation took place two months after the authorities of the Republika Srpska announced that they would cut funding for institutions and individuals who do not respect the Law on Non-Application of Laws and Prohibition of Activities of Unconstitutional Institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“That has not affected our work, and we are doing our job. We perform our duties regardless of what is happening,” said Bajić, adding that she is aware that these decisions do not affect other prosecutors either.

The Law on Non-Application of the Law on the State Court and Prosecutor's Office, and the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council was adopted by the National Assembly in February this year, after which the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina temporarily suspended it.

Responses from 22 judicial institutions from the RS to Detektor's inquiries indicate that funding has not been suspended. Ten judicial institutions did not respond to the inquiries.

From the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC), the umbrella judicial institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Detektor confirmed that they have no knowledge of any suspension of funding for judicial institutions in the Republika Srpska.

Sanin Bogunić, president of this institution, did not answer the question of how to protect judges and prosecutors, stating that the Council's positions are clear.

Bogunić, at the Conference of Judges and Prosecutors held in Neum in April this year, called for the independence of the judicial institution, stating that it is necessary to clearly and decisively convey that courts and prosecutor's offices will not be a tool in anyone's hands.

He said that responsible and decisive leadership, focused on citizens, is needed more than ever.

“Our obligation is to be a dam against any kind of political influence and to preserve independence as the basis of public trust in the work of the judiciary,” said Bogunić.

This position is shared by other Detektor interlocutors, who see the decisions of the Republika Srpska authorities as direct pressure on judges and prosecutors.

“Dodik's government has a hyperproduction of these laws that serve for political pressure, but they are not applied,” says Esad Fejzagić, a former judge, adding that it is a shame that the funding of all judicial institutions does not come from the state budget.

“Here, the intention was clearly pressure,” he says.

A similar opinion is shared by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which states that any attempt to pressure or intimidate the judiciary is very problematic, unacceptable, and dangerous.

Imposing financial or other conditions to influence the behavior of individual judges or prosecutors, or to force institutional compliance with decisions that undermine the established legal order, is seen as pressure by the OSCE.

“Such action represents a form of direct political pressure and is directly contrary to the principles of judicial independence and the rule of law. Weakening the judicial system and undermining accountability allows political actors to act with impunity,” they state from this international organization.

Holders of judicial functions interviewed by Detektor claim that such actions do not hinder their work and that they would not jeopardize their own or their colleagues' work due to politicians' rhetoric.

The decision ordering the Ministry of Justice to monitor the work of judicial institutions in order to determine which ones to cut funding for was made after the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina temporarily suspended the laws banning the operation of the State Court and Prosecutor's Office, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and SIPA on the territory of the Republika Srpska.

Milorad Dodik signed decrees on their proclamation, and they came into force on 6 March 2025.

Arben Murtezić, former director of the federal Center for Education of Judges and Prosecutors (CEST), hopes that additional accusations against courts and prosecutor's offices in public will not affect public perception. It has been very poor for years.

Murtezić says that the existing legal framework enables the independence of the judiciary, and it is precisely this that is being undermined. The rhetoric and attitude towards the judiciary are changing for the worse, and announcements of blocking funding and relocating courts by those who actually have the instruments are far more serious, he believes.

Although he states that in the event of a funding suspension, citizens would suffer, and that there is no legal basis for it, Murtezić says that legal uncertainty and economic damage are real and likely consequences of the continuation of such activities.

“Funding, which of course cannot be independent, can be a weak point in such circumstances, and there should be some legal guarantees, for example, a prescribed mandatory part of the budget and the like, but that is not realistic at this moment. However, it should always be repeated that the judiciary is funded primarily for the sake of citizens,” says Murtezić.

At the sessions of the umbrella judicial institution, the situation in the Republika Srpska was not discussed, but it was emphasized that the Council provides support to colleagues from the RS. From the Council, Detektor is told that courts and prosecutor's offices should consistently promote the fundamental principles of the rule of law, particularly emphasizing that the judiciary is the third, independent branch of government, whose independence must be fully respected and protected.

“We consider any form of pressure on the work of judicial institutions inappropriate,” they state from this institution and add that they expect everyone to act in their work in accordance with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the current legislative framework, and professional and ethical standards.

“Independent and impartial decision-making is the foundation of their operation,” says the Council, adding that they are in constant contact with judicial institutions and provide them with full support in ensuring independence and lawful conduct.

From the Ministry of Justice of the Republika Srpska, they did not respond to the inquiry about whether a list of institutions to have their funding cut has been compiled, nor from the Ministry of Finance about whether any funding has been cut.

Detektor did not receive a comment from Radovan Višković, President of the Government, nor from Miloš Bukejlović, Minister of Justice of the Republika Srpska.