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For months, the Bosnian state court has been functioning with six empty positions for judges who have yet to be elected, state court president Meddzida Kreso told BIRN. She said she recently asked for the election of nine more judges as there had been an increase in the number of prosecutors.
Kreso thinks the procedure of electing an adequate person for the position of state level judge is taking so long because “more experienced colleagues have been discouraged by the procedures in the past.”
“In the past, judges and prosecutors who were appointed on the state level have often lacked the necessary experience and work results,” Kreso said.
She says that the HJPC has recently adopted stricter rules in electing new judges and prosecutors and describes this is a “big step for the judiciary.”
In May 2015, the HJPC announced a “revolutionary step forward in objectivizing the process of electing prosecutors and judges in Bosnia and Herzegovina.” According to this new process, 80 percent of the score candidates receive is based on a written exam, while 20 percent is based on a face to face interview.
A call for applications for three Bosnian state court judges was issued in March 2015, but no candidates were found. The number of open positions has since risen to five regular judges and one additional judge.
After several sessions in which HJPC members failed to name the judges, a new call for applications was issued in January.
“The application to elect new Bosnian court judges was issued again because the HJPC found that there were no candidates who could meet the requirements of this court, which are experience in war crimes cases and other criminal cases,” said Milan Tegeltija, the president of the HJPC.
The HJPC refused to provide the names of the applicants who didn’t meet the criteria and applied last year, because of their right to privacy.
“I don’t know who the candidates are. It’s unclear how we arrived at a situation in which no one can meet the criteria. I guess it’s possible, and if it’s true that they didn’t meet the criteria it’s better that they weren’t appointed,” state court president Meddzida Kreso said.
She says that the court is stretched to capacity trying to handle all of its cases without the six foreseen judges.
“Our staff is reduced – one judge died, one was named to a different post, two were suspended, one became a lawyer and one, an HJPC member, only works part time. We asked for nine more judges to keep up with the work of the prosecution,” Kreso said.
The HJPC recently decided that consultations will take place to discuss whether there is an actual need to hire more judges.
