Association of Prosecutors of FBiH Has Objections to the Law on HJPC: Enable Broader and Substantive Debate

(Patria) - The Association of Prosecutors of the Federation of BiH expresses concern and opposes the manner in which the process of adopting the new Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH (HJPC BiH) was conducted.

Namely, the deadline between the publication of the final draft law and its submission for a vote was extremely short, which did not allow for adequate expert analysis, public debate, or the inclusion of all relevant actors in the judiciary.

We note that the professional associations of judges and prosecutors (FBiH and RS), despite the extremely short deadline given to us for submitting suggestions and comments on the aforementioned draft Law on HJPC BiH, sent a number of comments on several disputed articles of the said draft Law on November 28, 2025, which comments we consider extremely serious, and we conclude that they could not have been considered, given that the draft Law on HJPC BiH is being discussed at today's session of the Council of Ministers of BiH on December 2, 2025 (only two days after the deadline for submitting comments and opinions on the e-consultation page), which means that the opinion of the profession in this specific case regarding the subject draft Law has been essentially disregarded, although professional associations have a key role in interpreting and applying legal solutions that directly affect the work of prosecutor's offices and courts, as well as the quality of the judicial system.

The Association of Prosecutors of FBiH believes that transparency, inclusiveness, and open dialogue should be the basic principles when adopting laws related to the judiciary.

We call on the competent institutions to enable a broader and substantive debate and ensure that the professional community actively participates in creating regulations of the utmost importance for the functioning of the legal order.

The Association will remain committed to strengthening professional standards, the independence of the judiciary, and protecting the interests of the legal profession and the public.