New Law on HJPC is Dust in the Eyes of Justice if Existing Personnel and Old Matrices Remain!

By: A. Čorbo-Zećo

Transparency Index data developed by Transparency International and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH) show that a large number of courts and prosecutor's offices have violated the legal deadline to respond to requests for free access to information, which indicates that institutions responsible for the rule of law are violating prescribed deadlines.

Therefore, existing laws are already being widely violated, and efforts on new legal solutions are ongoing. This means the problem is not with the laws, but with the people who need to implement them, specifically the managers and holders of judicial functions.

The conclusion is clear: what is the point of legal solutions before the judicial bodies are cleansed and individuals who are clearly not capable of performing such responsible functions are removed.

However, regardless of the appeals from invalid organizations drawing attention to the fact that existing laws are being violated, and that a more comprehensive reform of the judiciary is necessary, which will also mean personnel cleanup as was done in Montenegro, for example, the House of Representatives of the PSBiH will consider the Bill on Amendments to the Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 24.

This is one of the 14 priorities, but there are many shortcomings after the intervention of the new Council of Ministers.

Representatives of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina sent a sharp letter to the members of the collegia of both houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as to the heads of parliamentary groups and delegates, due to "regressive amendments" to the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC), "made at the last minute".

The version of the Draft Law, with last-minute amendments, now differs in its meaning and essence from the version that received a positive assessment from the Venice Commission and the European Commission.

Such amendments will negatively affect efforts to increase transparency in the judicial system and procedures for reporting and verifying assets.
Despite this, the Council of Ministers of BiH adopted the Draft Law with problematic amendments and sent it to the parliamentary procedure.

Instead of improving transparency and integrity, the proposed amendments have the potential to dilute these standards while simultaneously negating the purpose and process of the integrity mechanisms themselves.

But, even within ideal legal frameworks, none of this will have much effect as long as politically installed personnel are not removed from the judiciary.

The proposed Law does not adequately define situations of conflict of interest for members of the Council and holders of judicial institutions, nor does it ensure transparency of assets and protection mechanisms.

"And the very procedure for checking asset declarations, where more complex provisions have been introduced regarding which laws will be used for verification," stated Ivana Korajlić, Executive Director of Transparency International in BiH, earlier.

Even some opposition MPs, such as Sabina Ćudić, have stated that they will not support this proposal, so it seems that after two years of waiting, we might still be without a new Law on the HJPC.

And perhaps we don't deserve it, because the people working in the judiciary do not respect even the existing legal regulations, so new laws mean no justice for us, but only a new agony!

Members of the MUP and the Army of RBiH are going through it massively, while Milanko Kajganić is implementing a Serb-Chetnik agenda, and the HJPC is calmly observing it all.