Law on Experts in FBiH Sparks Judicial Reaction: Minister of Justice Appoints Majority of Commission Members, Enabling Full Control

(Patria) - At the next session of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament on September 25, representatives are expected to consider the Draft Law on Experts in the Federation of BiH at the proposal of the FBiH Government. However, it is precisely this Draft that has provoked reactions from the Chief Federal Prosecutor Munib Halilović and the President of the FBiH Supreme Court Vesna Stanković-Ćosović, who have sent a joint letter to the leaderships of both houses of the FBiH Parliament and all heads of clubs, as well as the FBiH Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić and the Minister of Justice Vedran Škobić (HDZ BiH).

Amir Purić, a representative of Naša stranka, told TVSA on Friday that they had received the letter and that there were objections to the content of the law, and that they would see what would happen at the session itself.

In this case, if it assesses that there will not be a majority, the FBiH Government will likely withdraw the law from the procedure, as it has done with some other laws.

In their letter, Halilović and Stanković-Ćosović warn that this proposal would place the Commission for Proposing the List of Experts under complete political control, which could jeopardize the key independence and expertise in the work of court experts. According to the Draft, the Minister of Justice appoints the majority of the Commission members, while the Chamber of Experts has only three members.

Instead of the current solution, where members are appointed by holders of the highest judicial functions, the President of the Supreme Court or a judge designated by him, the Chief Federal Prosecutor or a prosecutor designated by him, which guarantees the expertise and independence of the commission whose composition does not depend on the will of individuals from the political sphere, the current proposal is that the majority of the members of the Commission for the Selection of Experts are appointed by the Minister of Justice, thus placing the process under full political control.

According to the new Draft, the minister appoints the members of the Commission as follows: one member from among judges in FBiH, one member from among prosecutors in FBiH, one member from among lawyers in the Federation, two representatives of the Ministry of Justice, and three temporary members proposed by the Chamber of Experts from among leading experts in the field for which the expert is appointed, with at least 15 years of experience in performing expert work. The president of the Commission is also one of the two representatives of the Ministry.

The letter sent by the President of the Supreme Court and the Chief Federal Prosecutor to the parliamentarians also states that, contrary to the current standard, the proposed solution offers the minister complete control over the supervision of the commission, which will determine the list of experts, decide on objections to their work, and propose sanctions up to removal from the list of experts.

- A commission whose appointment and dismissal is solely at the minister's discretion, regardless of an individual's credibility, cannot guarantee experts' independence or act as a shield against undue influence on their work. Proponents of such a solution will certainly argue that decisions on accepting expert opinions are made by the court, but it must be known that in most court and investigative proceedings, only one expert opinion of a certain type is conducted, and the body that ordered the expert opinion does not have sufficient knowledge to recognize if the expert opinion was influenced - the letter from the President of the Supreme Court and the Chief Federal Prosecutor states.

They also warn of malicious intent, given that the work of the Commission is paid, and they state that they will interpret this as motivated by personal interest.

- The fact that our address is not personal stems from the fact that the President of the Court is retiring in two months and can no longer be a member of this commission, and the Chief Prosecutor has just over a year left in his mandate, after which a new Chief Prosecutor will be elected, and the decision will be made by the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) - the letter states.

In the letter, they emphasize that it is of utmost importance for the proper functioning of the judiciary that the composition of this commission predominantly remains outside of personal political influence and that this commission consists of the heads of the Supreme Court (who would also be the president of the Commission) and the Federal Prosecutor's Office of FBiH, who are not personally predetermined and are elected by an independent body through a clearly defined procedure.

- This is the strongest blow to the independence of the judiciary to date, by indirectly placing experts under undue political influence, whereby the independence of the judiciary exists only on the surface, while its essence is deeply compromised, creating serious legal uncertainty. We want to point out that we have warned the Ministry of Justice in writing about the above during the public debate on the Draft Law and have never received a response or counterarguments. We are convinced that you will seriously consider the objections and shortcomings of the proposed solution, because all of us, including you in the future, can become victims of undue influence, which we do not claim will happen, but with such a solution, we have widely opened the door to it - the letter states.