HJPC Announces New Competition for Head of Special Department, Prosecutors, and Judges, Open Until November 19

(Patria) - The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH today announced a competition for holders of judicial functions, including a special deputy chief federal prosecutor of the Federal Prosecutor's Office of the Federation of BiH, or rather the head of the Special Department of the Federal Prosecutor's Office of the Federation of BiH for the suppression of corruption, organized and inter-cantonal crime - experience in handling cases of organized crime and corruption or complex criminal cases, nine (9) prosecutors in the Federal Prosecutor's Office of the Federation of BiH - experience in handling cases of organized crime and corruption or complex criminal cases, and ten (10) judge positions in the Supreme Court of the Federation of BiH - special department of the Supreme Court of the Federation of BiH - experience in handling cases of organized crime and corruption or complex criminal cases.

We remind you that this is a repeated competition, given that the HJPC rejected the appointment of the head and other holders of judicial functions at an earlier session in September, and in agreement with the US Embassy, canceled the previous competition. Although they tried to justify this by an insufficient number of quality staff, the question arises whether these positions are "reserved" for certain individuals. The applications for the announced competitions will show this.

Regarding the basic conditions that candidates must meet, they must be citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, intellectually and physically capable of performing judicial or prosecutorial duties, possess a law degree from Bosnia and Herzegovina or the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or another law faculty, provided that the diploma issued by that law faculty has been recognized in accordance with the law, have passed the judicial exam in Bosnia and Herzegovina or the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; or, exceptionally from point (d), have passed the judicial exam in the period between April 6, 1992, and March 31, 2004, in a country that was previously part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and have held the position of judge or prosecutor in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period between April 6, 1992, and March 31, 2004.

In addition to the basic conditions, applicants must also meet special conditions related to work experience in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Law on the HJPC of BiH and the Rules of Procedure of the HJPC of BiH. The HJPC amended its Rules of Procedure at the October session, allowing deputy chief prosecutors to also be candidates even if they have not spent five years in that position, with five years of continuous work experience being sufficient.

The deadline for applications is November 19, and the US Embassy has requested that these special departments become operational by the end of this year.

The competition procedure for other necessary staff, lawyers, investigators, psychologists, etc., is also underway.

Since October, the Government of the Federation of BiH has rented premises to house the Special Departments, paying 26,000 KM per month. The premises are located in the former Privredna bank building, now owned by a company from East Sarajevo.