The East Sarajevo District Court became one of 11 courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which as a part of the project “Support to the BiH Judiciary” funded by the EU established audio-visual and video conferencing system, and in that way improved the technical requirements for the processing of war and other severe crimes.
“Thanks to the funding of the Delegation of the European Union video-conference system was established that enabled connection of 19 courts, 8 prosecutors and the High Judicial Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) BiH. I want to emphasize that the use of these systems leads to savings of time that would be spent on traveling of witnesses and experts, reduction of travel costs, greater productivity and better communication and efficient teamwork on various issues” said Milorad Novkovic, President of the HJPC of BiH.
Mr. Novkovic added that the Council, in cooperation with all judicial institutions, will continue to work to improve the physical and technical conditions for the normal functioning of the courts and prosecutors’ offices, as well as the development of the judicial information systems.
This activity within the project was aimed at creating a safe environment for witnesses, which will eventually lead to high-quality evidence and efficient trials.
“Here in Bosnia and Herzegovina you really had a big challenge because you were faced with the greatest number of war crimes cases in the entire Europe and beyond. About 1,300 cases with known faces now have to be addressed. This situation would certainly represent a major challenge for any judicial system in Europe, including Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hundreds of cases will have to be prosecuted in cantonal and district courts, and we hope that through this project the EU will contribute solving these cases, achieving the rule of law and the approximation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union” said Severin Strohal, Head of Operations Section for Justice, Home Affairs and Public Administration Reform of the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
For the purpose of financing these project activities, in the last eight months the EU has allocated 1,7 million EUR.
