Court of BiH no longer has funds for court-appointed lawyers, chambers in RS and FBiH outraged - advocacy on the margins

(Patria) - By letter from the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina dated May 30 this year, the Bar Association of Republika Srpska and the Bar Association of FBiH were informed about the lack of available funds for court-appointed defense attorneys before that Court.

"Lawyers in Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH are witnesses to the fact that advocacy in Bosnia and Herzegovina is increasingly being pushed to the margins of society, even though the judicial system of Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot function without this activity," stated the bar associations.

Previously, they state, for a period of almost a year, both bar associations, through their representatives, conducted intensive negotiations with representatives of the entity ministries of justice, as well as with the Minister of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in order to strengthen advocacy and improve the status of lawyers, by adopting new Tariffs that value the work of lawyers.

"From promises that the demands of the bar associations would be met within a reasonable time, we have come to a situation where, after almost a year since the beginning of these negotiations, there are now no funds for the payment of compensation to court-appointed defense attorneys in war crimes cases before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The ignorant attitude of the competent institutions towards the problem that has arisen only contributes to the strengthening of distrust of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the judicial system due to its sluggishness, and the fact that payments of compensation to defense attorneys are also delayed in other criminal proceedings before the competent courts is considered devastating," it was announced.

They also point out that they are facing new attacks on advocacy through attempts to eliminate representatives of the legal profession from the membership of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who have so far represented their Chambers, and in the recent past, lawyers had to fight to be included in the most significant legislative reform processes in criminal and civil matters, even though it would be completely natural for advocacy to have a dominant role in these processes.

"Lawyers in Republika Srpska have long been deprived of many powers, especially in the area of competence for drafting legal transactions related to real estate. Due to the current situation, both bar associations will consider ways to take more radical measures in the coming period, including the measure of suspending work in the segment of court-appointed defense."