Past Results and Future Plans

The AIS members discussed problems related to the anonymisation of court documents and verdicts.

They consider the fact that representatives of local-level judicial institutions too consider the anonymisation unnecessary, particularly when it comes to verdicts, as a positive development.

AIS visited Brcko, Orasje, Trebinje and Eastern Sarajevo in the past few months and have found that all representatives of the media and judicial institution are struggling with anonymization and have objected to this practice.

It was agreed that AIS will continue its advocacy campaign against this practice in the upcoming period.

AIS members Erna Mackic and Mirela Hukovic-Hodzic informed the meeting participants about problems related to co-operation between judicial institutions and the media in Eastern Sarajevo.

As they said, during a meeting held in that local community on November 20 it was concluded that representatives of the media and judicial institutions need to be educated, so they knew what type of information they should share with the public and how journalists should convey the information in line with ethical principles.

AIS concluded that both the District Court and Prosecution in Eastern Sarajevo had a negative practice of not making public statements, except through written responses, which puts the electronic media in a problematic situation.

It was pointed out that this practice was partially caused by the fact that certain media stations previously published incorrect reports, causing fear and repulsion among judicial representatives.

The meeting participants concluded that, although the judicial institution’s fear was understandable to a certain extent, such fears could not be used as an excuse for elusiveness and that judges and prosecutors had to address the Communications Regulatory Agency or the Press Council.

The fact that the District Court does not have a spokesperson, as well as the fact that the Court President issues all announcements and deals with public relations, represents an additional problem.

“The judiciary has to be public. Prosecutors and judges are public figures, whose salaries are paid from the budget. Therefore, their work has to be transparent,” said BIRN BiH Director Anisa Suceska-Vekic.

Considering the fact that AIS members visited Brcko, Orasje and Trebinje earlier this year and that they noticed similar problems in those communities, it was agreed that AIS should organise a few educational workshops next year with the aim of establishing better communication between the media and judiciary.

Besides AIS and BIRN representatives, the workshops should be attended by representatives of the Communications Regulatory Agency and Press Council, and possibly the Centre for Post-conflict Studies.

As part of those meetings, separate sessions would be held with judges and prosecutors in order to discuss possible ways for their positive co-operation with the media and journalists in order to stress the importance of court reporting as well as professional and ethical work practices.

It was further concluded that a potential meeting with the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina would be considered with the aim of educating prosecutors and judges on working with the media.

The meeting agreed that, with the aim of animating the media to report on court processes, BIRN BiH would try to increase the coverage of problems in local communities in the upcoming period and produce radio and TV shows from future meetings.

The meeting participants concluded that the final AIS meeting in this year would take place on December 14.

All AIS members, including those from other towns, will attend the meeting at which a detailed plan of action for next year will be prepared.