Sarajevo, October 2 – Srpska Justice Minister Anton Kasipovic says that during a TAIEX seminar on the reform of judicial institutions at the BiH state level, the participants expressed a common view that changes in the sector are necessary, primarily when it comes to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the law that regulates the area.
Kasipovic pointed out in a statement to Srna that Republika Srpska considers the issue of the BiH Court’s jurisdiction especially important and that during the seminar much attention was drawn to the concept of a courts law that was developed by the Ministry of Justice of Republika Srpska.
“There were both affirmative and opposing views, i.e. different opinions to those offered by Republika Srpska. The conclusion is that the EU experts, who have worked together with us for the last two days, should draw up their expert opinions treating both proposals equally – the draft law on courts from Republika Srpska and the proposal /of the BiH Justice Ministry/ from 2013 – so that we can continue to bring into line an optimal text, primarily to define the jurisdiction of the BiH Court,” said Kasipovic.
The different kinds of disagreements heard during the seminar, both in terms of the ministries and within the judicial community between individual institutions, mean that there is a very difficult task ahead of us, he said.
“However, this is an important issue and we need to work on it. It has to be brought in connection with the Reform Agenda. Regardless of the disagreements, Republika Srpska will try to strengthen its proposal because we believe that on the basis of what we suggested, there can be improved solutions made,” added Kasipovic.
The two-day TAIEX seminar in the framework of the Structured Dialogue on Justice wrapped up in Sarajevo on Friday.
The gathering was attended by the line ministers of BiH, Republika Srpska and Federation of BiH, as well as the top officials from the state’s judicial institutions.
The seminar was organised after a meeting of justice ministers in Brussels on September 10, where they reiterated the commitment to the Structured Dialogue on Justice and signed the protocol stipulating a set of measures to deal with the reform priorities in the sector.
The seminar was opened by the Head of the EU Delegation to BiH/Special Representative, Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark.
Source: SRNA
