Signing ceremony of the “Memorandum of Understanding on the Continuation of the Cooperation between the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH (HJPC BiH) and the Swedish National Court Administration (SNCA)“ took place on July 3, 2008 in Sarajevo. The Memorandum of Understanding is a result of the “Twinning Light“ project “Support to the HJPC BiH” supported by the European Union with 250,000€.
Mr. Marc Vanbrabant, First Counsellor of the European Commission Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, congratulated the partners on the continuation of their cooperation. “Independence, impartiality, accountability and good functioning of the judiciary are vital for any democratic society.”, said Mr. Vanbrabant outlining three fundamental reasons for the European Commission’s support to the judiciary. First objective was to consolidate mandate of the HJPC BiH. Second, the Stabilisation and Association Agreement outlined the provisions for strengthening the area of justice, freedom and security by reinforcing the institutions and the rule of law. Finally, the dialogue on visa liberalisation with Bosnia and Herzegovina recently launched by the European Commission would also depend on the progress made by the judiciary. “May I assure you that the European Union support to the judiciary will continue. We believe that the Agreement signed today is good basis for us to continue funding the HJPC in particular. We count on your successful cooperation.” concluded Mr. Vanbrabant.
Mr. Milorad Novković, President of the HJPC BiH, explained that the completed Twinning Light Project covered the issues of consolidation of the HJPC mandate, constitutional amendments; the introduction of better practices for court and prosecutor office administration; enhancing budgets and financing for courts and prosecutors offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina and coordination between judges, prosecutors and the police. He thanked all relevant partners, especially the European Commission Delegation to BiH for financial support for this Twinning Assistance stressing that it was vital for the ongoing process of judicial reform in BiH.
Mr. Anders Hedlund, Director of Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) stressed out the importance of coordination of all relevant projects with Justice Sector Reform Strategy for the success of judiciary reform in BiH.
About European Commission’s assistance to judiciary sector
The European Commission has been supporting the reform of the judiciary through significant CARDS assistance and will continue through the new Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). From 2001 to present the European Commission committed close to 40 million Euro for the judiciary of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The IJC and the HJPC were the main recipients of such support, along with the BiH Court and BiH Prosecutor’s Office, the BiH Constitutional Court and the BiH Ministry of Justice.
