STATE OF THE JUDICIARY: President of the Court of BiH Ranko Debevec before the Temporary Investigative Commission

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Temporary Investigative Commission of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH for determining the state of judicial institutions, headed by Damir Arnaut, has scheduled a session for August 26, when the President of the Court of BiH, Ranko Debevec, will appear before the Commission members.

Cooperation with the Commission was first refused by the President of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, Milan Tegeltija, in a manner that announced that members of the HJPC, as well as judges and prosecutors, would in no way participate in the work of the Commission.

At that time, the Embassy of the United States of America (USA) in BiH reacted, warning on its official Twitter profile that the HJPC BiH should know that the system of checks and balances is the foundation of a free, democratic society.

"Ordering legal sector officials not to cooperate with a legislative committee is an act of acting against the accountability and independence of the judiciary," stated the post on the Twitter account of the US Embassy.

Just a few days later, the HJPC adopted a new conclusion approving cooperation with the Commission.

"Courts and prosecutor's offices may provide the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH and its bodies with data from official records or on the work of the institution upon request, for which they assess that they do not jeopardize the independence of the judiciary, without providing any data on individual cases. Judges and prosecutors who independently decide to respond to the invitation of the temporary investigative commission are obliged to refrain from answering questions or commenting on court, prosecutorial, and disciplinary cases," was concluded at the session.