WHAT NEXT: The judiciary serves criminals, and hardly ever justice and law

Written by: Amra Vrabac 

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A state judge was punished by a 10 percent reduction of one month's salary for replacing the word genocide with the word crime, a cantonal prosecutor was punished for negligence by a 50 percent salary reduction for one year and mandatory education, a disciplinary proceeding was initiated against the chief prosecutor of the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office for negligence in performing official duties, a judge of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina was suspended due to an investigation into the murder of Dženan Memić, a state prosecutor caught on the Sky app is under US sanctions, a former chief state prosecutor for abuse of position and political influence also found herself on the US blacklist. All these cases have shaken BiH's judiciary in the last few months.

One of the questions that currently no one can answer is how many honorable people there actually are in the judicial community. When it comes to the judiciary, the motto „honor to exceptions“ seems to apply.  

The recent appointment of the Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, Milanko Kajganić, in a compromised election process in which one candidate abruptly withdrew from the race, while the other opposing candidate found herself under US sanctions, is an indicator that the judicial pyramid must be changed from the very top.

Analysts, as well as former and current members of the judicial community, are warning about this.

Even the European Commission, which recommended candidate status for BiH, had no praise for the judiciary. On the contrary. There are not enough indictments for high-level corruption, organized crime, and cooperation between police agencies and prosecutor's offices is poor.

Investigations that are conducted are slow and inadequate. Trials last for years, even in less complex cases.

Defendants for genocide move freely, and due to the negligence of the Prosecutor's Office and the Court of BiH, they even manage to flee BiH and find refuge in neighboring countries.

Although every holder of a judicial function will deny a connection with politics, it is clear that no process in BiH can proceed without the approval of certain politics. The main functions in the judiciary are divided according to the national key, even territorial.

We still remember the case of the published conversation between the dismissed chief prosecutor Gordana Tadić, her deputy Ozrenka Nešković, and the director of OSA, Osman Mehmedagić. To this day, there is no official information on who recorded and released to the public the recording that deeply compromises all three.

Although the State Prosecutor's Office and the Court of BiH should be staffed by the best legal experts, without a blemish in their professional careers, it seems that this is becoming the exception, and that these two institutions are becoming training grounds for unfulfilled prosecutors and judges.

The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, as the supreme institution when it comes to appointments of prosecutors and judges, has shown in several cases that it represents some other interests besides those exclusively related to competence and knowledge. Those who openly point out all the holes in the judiciary are isolated.

If the international community invested genuine effort as much as it does in some other processes, as one of the largest financiers of the judiciary in BiH, perhaps this country would rightfully bear the epithet of a state governed by the rule of law.

With what we have been seeing for years, and what former President of the Court of BiH Meddžida Kreso called the 'judicial mafia' a few years ago, this judiciary and this state serve criminals, and hardly justice and law.