A plenary meeting of the EU-BiH Structured Dialogue on Justice and Additional Rule of Law Matters was opened in Sarajevo today, under the co-chairmanship of the BiH Ministry of Security Secretary General, Mr. Bakir Dautbasic, and Director at the Enlargement Directorate of the European Commission, Mr. Jean-Eric Paquet. The opening sessions were dedicated to the reform of the judiciary and issues related to the war crimes backlog. These items remain at the very core of the Structured Dialogue agenda and still require targeted institutional reforms and technical measures to be adopted and implemented. Yet, new additional rule of law issues begun to be addressed in this framework, including aspects related to the fight against corruption and anti-discrimination policies. For the first time, debate on these matters is taking place in the Structured Dialogue, and will be run also at the presence of civil society organisations coming from all parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As clarified by the European Commission representatives, the additional rule of law matters added to the agenda are of cross cutting relevance. Discussion in the context of the Structured Dialogue is kicking off a process that will be carried out throughout all other relevant fora, particularly for matters of relevance to the eradication of corruption at all levels.
The Delegation of BiH to this two-day exercise is composed of over fifty representatives from relevant ministries, judicial institutions and authorities, as well as from the law enforcement sector. Around twenty representatives from different civil society organisations are expected to contribute to the discussion.
