The institutional developments of the past few years, including the creation of State judicial institutions, have represented key steps towards the establishment of an independent and effective judiciary and need to be preserved as such. As highlighted by President Barroso during his visit of Bosnia and Herzegovina last week, the European Union strongly supports the work of the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the State level Prosecutor’s Office and the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council. The strengthening of the law enforcement agencies is also essential. All these bodies provide an important contribution to ensuring the rule of law in the country in line with European standards.

In the framework of the Stabilisation and Association Process, the Commission will continue to engage with the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina in a structured dialogue to assess progress in reforms of the justice and home affairs sectors. A structured dialogue on Justice and Home Affairs will shortly take place. This dialogue is a standard EU review mechanism to assess whether the functioning of the judicial and law enforcement institutions is in line with European standards and is an important part of the EU pre-accession process.