Transparency International BiH wins lawsuit against BiH Prosecutor's Office

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ruled in favor of Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TIBiH), which filed a lawsuit against the BiH Prosecutor's Office for failing to provide information related to concluded court cases.

TIBiH requested copies of cases concluded with final convictions for criminal offenses against official duty from the Prosecutor's Office back in November 2014. The Prosecutor's Office refused to provide the requested cases, stating that providing the information could cause significant harm to the prevention and detection of crime.

After TIBiH filed a lawsuit, the BiH Court ruled in favor of TIBiH, stating that the BiH Prosecutor's Office's refusal to provide the requested information was contrary to the Law on Free Access to Information, which clearly stipulates that all information under the control of public bodies is public property. The ruling ordered the Prosecutor's Office to re-process TIBiH's request, but this time in compliance with the procedure prescribed by law.

The Court took the position that in cases where the proceedings have been legally concluded, there is no basis for refusing access to information, and in the explanation of the verdict, it particularly emphasized the importance of the transparency of the work of judicial institutions.

This is the eighth verdict that TIBiH has won in 2016 against public institutions for violating the Law on Free Access to Information, and the first against the BiH Prosecutor's Office since TIBiH initiated court proceedings in this area.

The delivered verdict is very important, not only for creating positive court practice but also in the context of the hitherto non-transparent work of the Prosecutor's Office, which in most cases refused to provide information about its proceedings, even in cases of huge public interest.