EU threatens to suspend support, HJPC claims it can finance itself

(Patria) - If the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HJPC BiH) does not withdraw the amended rulebook on the engagement of external experts who oversee the verification of judges' and prosecutors' assets, it is very likely that it could lose the financial support that the European Union had allocated for this process. The HJPC claims that in that case, they would engage experts financed from the budget of BiH institutions.

Detektor unofficially learns from its sources that a decision has already been made in Brussels on a possible suspension of funding for the oversight of judges' and prosecutors' assets if the HJPC does not repeal the disputed rulebook in the meantime.

The HJPC states that they have not received an official reaction from the European Commission, and when asked how they will proceed if the EU decides to suspend funding, they respond that “they do not base their actions on speculations and assumptions appearing in the public space from unofficial sources.”

At the same time, they emphasize that “the Department for Conducting Proceedings Based on Reports, which is responsible for verifying the assets of judges and prosecutors, is entirely financed from the budget of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

“No employee of the Department, material resources, premises, IT equipment, nor cooperation with other institutions are financed by funds from international partners,” the HJPC states.

They add that “any hypothetical termination of the partnership cooperation between the European Commission and the HJPC in implementing the integrity provisions could relate exclusively to experts who have an advisory role towards the Department for Conducting Proceedings Based on Reports.”

At its session on April 15, the HJPC adopted amendments to the rulebook in the part concerning external monitoring of the Department for Verification of Assets of Holders of Judicial Functions and the manner of engaging external experts who monitor their work. Council members decided that external experts will be selected through a public competition, with two members of the commissions appointed by the EU and one by the HJPC.

The decision was made without consultation with the EU.

According to the Law on the HJPC, this judicial institution says, the HJPC is solely responsible for engaging experts authorized to advise employees of the Department. They add that the European Commission finances exclusively those experts who do not participate in the verifications but advise the Department if they deem it necessary and if the Department seeks their advice.

Valentina Superti, Director for the Western Balkans in the European Commission's Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, earlier expressed concern in letters to the President of the HJPC, Sanin Bogunić, regarding the draft amendments to the rulebook, warning of possible consequences for the efficiency, credibility, and independence of the external monitoring system.

The HJPC says they are satisfied with the cooperation so far with the European Commission and state that in four publicly published reports, international experts assessed the Department's work as exceptionally high-quality and professional.

They say they would be pleased if the currently engaged experts continue their engagement, as there is mutual satisfaction with the cooperation and quality of work.

The HJPC says that in the event of a possible suspension of funding for advisory positions, which, according to their claims, do not perform essential tasks crucial for the Department's functionality, they will “ensure that in a transparent procedure, based on legal authorizations and in the best public interest, they engage experts who will be financed from the budget of BiH institutions.”

They add that the advisory role of international experts was particularly important in the initial phase of establishing work processes, while today the Department, after a year of work, functions independently and achieves notable results. They also remind that the Law on the HJPC stipulates that the engagement of experts lasts four years from the start of the law's application, and that the transition period is already in its final phase.

Ivana Korajlić from Transparency International BiH assesses that this renders meaningless the expert mechanism that was supposed to ensure independent external oversight of the work of the Verification Department and the functioning of the entire system.

According to her, the goal was for European experts, delegated by the European Union, to conduct independent oversight and monitoring of the Department's work, particularly regarding the efficiency of proceedings, given that the system for verifying asset declarations is still being established.

Korajlić, however, warns that strong resistance is being noted within the judicial community, along with simultaneous attempts by the HJPC to increase control over the process and in some way close off the possibility of such monitoring by deciding itself who the external experts will be and what that type of oversight will look like. She believes that such an approach is problematic in relations with the European Union, which has invested significant funds to enable the basic functions of the HJPC to operate and to establish these oversight mechanisms.

“It is obvious that there is an effort to close the HJPC off from any independent oversight and to answer only to itself,” Korajlić states.

She adds that external oversight is important not only for independence and objectivity but also for transparent reporting and analysis of work.

The HJPC emphasizes that the Department's results so far are proof of its success, stating that it was established in a short time and that verification of assets has been carried out for more than 130 judges, prosecutors, and HJPC members, and that hundreds of reports on the assets and interests of holders of judicial functions are already publicly available on the Council's website.

They state that successful cooperation has been established with domestic institutions and international partners, which is why the Department's work and the results of asset verifications represent, as they say, one of the most successful reform processes in BiH's judiciary.

Detektor previously wrote about reports from EU external experts in which they warned that the Department for Verification of Assets of Judges and Prosecutors continues to work with insufficient capacity, and that work is further slowed by the refusal of household members to submit data.

The HJPC responded to the criticisms at the time, stating that the European Union was interfering too much in the verification process itself.