A ceremony on 11 December, 2007, marked the beginning of a project to rehabilitate the Sarajevo Cantonal and Municipal Courts building. The EU has provided 1.4 million Euro to this effect, while Sarajevo Canton contributed 400,000 Euro and the Kingdom of Norway 90,000 Euro.

The objective is to enhance the ability of Sarajevo Municipal Court and Sarajevo Cantonal Court to carry out their administrative and judicial functions more effectively through the efficient and co-ordinated use of space in the existing building. This will enable a more efficient processing of court cases. The projects will also:

• improve the flow of information and communications within the courts, which will lead to better co-ordination and management, as well as the working conditions amongst judges and staff;
• improve the work flow between registries and the judicial departments which they serve and public access to information with respect to court operations and procedures, among others;
• separate public spaces from restricted areas of the courts and determine common entrances and division of the building into logical zones;
• create efficient facility-management regarding co-ordination and maintenance of the different parts and users of the building.

Mr. Goran Salihovic, President of the Municipal Court of Sarajevo welcomed  the participants and introduced the speakers.

Ambassador Dimitris Kourkoulas, Head of Delegation of the European Commission to BiH, stressed that the rule of law is one of the European Union’s key priorities in the Western Balkans. The establishment of an efficient, unbiased and independent judiciary is a keystone in the Stabilisation and Association process of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As outlined in the European Partnership, the rule of law and judicial reform are important steps in the process of European integration.

Mr. Samir Silajdzic, Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton, and Mr. Branko Peric, President of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, welcomed the assistance and both stressed that the rehabilitation will be a big help in the pressing task of resolving the backlog of court cases (which currently stands at almost two million).