The seventh meeting to inform donors takes place



24 June 2009 – Today in Sarajevo the seventh meeting to inform donors has taken place. The BiH  Ministry of Justice has presented to the donors and local coordinators a biyearly overview of the implementation of the BiH Justice Sector  Reform  Strategy and an overview of activities taken for the establishment of an implementing donors' fund. The conference participants have also been informed about a plan for the implementation of reforms envisaged in the coming period.

The donors have been presented with a report on the results achieved so far by functional working groups for the Strategy implementation, which contains recommendations to overcome shortcomings that have been found during the implementation of reforms envisaged.

As a reminder, in the first five months of the  BiH Justice Sector  Reform Strategy implementation, 32 activities were fully or partially implemented and about one hundred reform activities were launched. In the reporting period the information technology was introduced in courts of law and prosecutor's offices, a proposal for utility bill cases was prepared and an analysis of real time processing of cases in prosecutor's offices was made. The Law on Amendments to the Law on the Execution of Criminal Sanctions, Detention and Other Measures was passed, which additionally improves the control over security in correctional institutions and introduces European prison standards. The Law on Free Legal Aid was passed by the cantons and the Republika Srpska, whereas the Law on Free Legal Aid of BiH and the Law on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters were drafted. The latter will inter alia create conditions for the establishment of a single criminal register of Bosnia and Herzegovina nationals who are convicted abroad. Actions were taken to advance economic development through promotion and advancement of an alternative system of commercial dispute settlement and land administration. 

The conference participants have shown an interest and given support to the establishment of a joint donors' fund which will fund activities defined in the BiH Justice Sector  Reform Strategy.