The most important 2009 achievements



The Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina implemented most of the 2009 Action Plan and made some additional achievements outside the plan. 23 laws, a lot of by-laws and a number of conventions have been prepared and the conclusion of some important treaties and the implementation of major strategies are being finalized.

The Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina initiated and agreed the amendments to mutual enforcement of judicial decisions in criminal matters with the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Croatia. They provide that all individuals sentenced by a final and binding decision in one country will have to serve their time in the country they fled into. We are talking about 282 fugitives who tried to avoid serving their prison terms in this fashion.

The Ministry of Justice of BiH prepared the amendments to the Criminal Law of BiH. The passage of the amendments will bring Bosnia and Herzegovina to fulfilment of four requirements for visa liberalization and will bring the criminal legislation in line with the EU countries legislation.

The Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina came into effect, establishing functional mechanisms of management and assignment of the war crimes caseload among BiH courts and allowing better implementation of the National War Crimes Prosecution Strategy. So, the Court and the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH will establish a central record of all war crimes cases in Bosnia and Herzegovina. High-profile war criminals will be prosecuted as a first priority before the Court of BiH, using agreed criteria to select the cases and within a set timeline.

The Ministry prepared a new Draft Law on Denationalization offering new provisions respecting disputable matters, where earlier provisions did not win support of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly. The Law provides for reinstatement of the original owners or, if not possible, compensation in the form of replacement property or pecuniary equitable compensation. After getting opinions of the relevant institutions, the Draft will be sent to the Council of Ministers of BiH for adoption.

The Ministry prepared the Draft Law on Obligations (Contracts and Torts). It is a systemic law that uniformly governs the following matters: contracts, causing of harm, unjust enrichment, management of affairs of another without authority, unilateral expressions of intent and other statutory obligations in the territory of BiH. The passage of the Law on Obligations of BiH is one of the conditions set before Bosnia and Herzegovina under the Stabilization and Association Agreement with EU initialled.

The Amendments to the Law on the Execution of Criminal Sanctions, Detention and Other Measures came into effect, improving the control of security in prisons and introducing other European prison standards.

In the first year of implementation of the BiH Justice Sector Reform Strategy, 112 reform activities out of 140 ones planned were fully or partially implemented.  It is implementation of a strategic plan for improvement of the entire judicial system in the country, jointly carried on by the Ministry of Justice of BiH and entity Ministries of Justice, District Brčko of BiH, cantons and the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH.