Others On The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor

Since its establishment, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been a key partner for the ICTY Office of the Prosecutor (OTP). The Court has demonstrated that it will independently, impartially and professionally adjudicate war crimes cases. This has allowed the OTP to refer six Rule 11bis cases to the Court, all of which were timely completed.

In these cases, the Court established important legal precedents, including by entering convictions for genocide and crimes against humanity, and made significant contributions to ensuring accountability for horrific crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Its work is not done: many victims are still waiting for accountability. But when we think of the situation 10 years ago, the Court has contributed to creating the conditions for more comprehensive justice and stronger rule of law in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Miodrag Stojanovic, lawyer

In my humble opinion, with regards to the organizational, logistical and formal aspect of processing of war crimes cases, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina undoubtedly represented a major shift in handling such complex cases and it was my pleasure to be a part of this process.

On the other hand, the many problems that I saw in its work, starting from very diverse practices in decision-making about virtually the same legal issues, uneven policies of sentencing with different standards, the problematic and undoubted legal decline at the exam on the application of criminal law in the prosecution of war crimes, and the obvious fact of the composition of the court sheds another, I would say negative light on the previous work of the court.

It’s true that in this very difficult issue of the application of the criminal code, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina bears great responsibility, since its decisions in the cases of Maktouf and Damjanovic practically put the work of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the wrong direction.

Finally, I’m afraid of the core problem, the aim of the court and of these proceedings is the individualization of criminal responsibility, providing satisfaction for the victims, and reconciliation among the nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and this is definitely not achieved by these verdicts.

However, I want to believe that these problems will be overcome and that time will show the need for the existence of such a court.

Finally, I must emphasize the work in educating everyone involved in these cases and the work of the Department of Criminal Defence as something that should be commended.

Edina Residovic, lawyer

I began my work as a defense attorney before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2009, after I finished three proceedings before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). I accepted and adopted the high standards of fair trials which are applied before the ICTY, particularly when it comes to the rights of the accused and their defense teams, guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights and many other international legal standards.

At the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I was faced with the fact that some of those standards were not applied, and some of those standards were interpreted and applied by trial chambers of the state court in various ways. It was necessary to fight for the application of these standards, which my colleagues with similar experiences and I insisted upon, and that contributed to the promotion of respect of rights deriving from the European Convention on Human Rights.

In terms of the defense, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina today accepts and implements a considerable number of standards which were built before international courts. But, nevertheless, in practice, there’s still a large number of problems primarily related to the timely and full disclosure of evidence to the defense, which the defense is entitled to, and which are often hidden from the defense.

For example, sometimes a case involving an investigation with several suspects is fragmented to become a large number of smaller cases, and then the defense is prevented from obtaining documents from the other cases, although they are connected and they are about the same events. Problems surrounding the legality of evidence is still present, and it’s a particular problem for the defense to access military and state archives, which the prosecution has unlimited access to, but which the defense can only access with the permission of the court.

Zarije Seizovic, Associate Professor

The work of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in war crimes cases could be characterized as moderately successful, if there were no unfortunate situations in which Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state and its judiciary failed to meet the basic requirements of the rule of law. Based on the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the Maktouf and Damjanovic cases, and the decision of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina which abolished the verdicts in cases in which the application of law is detrimental to the convicted person, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina brought down verdicts which released people who were convicted for the most serious crimes, including genocide!

If Bosnia and Herzegovina were a state with the rule of law, and if qualified, dedicated and superbly trained judges and prosecutors worked in its highest judicial institutions, those people wouldn’t have been allowed to walk freely out of their cells and decide whether they would in the meantime leave the country and thus become inaccessible to the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Also, the fact that no procedure of responsibility for those involved in such catastrophic failures was initiated deserves every condemnation. After all of this, how does one evaluate the work of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina?

Mervan Mirascija, transitional justice expert

Taking into account all the limitations and the continuing political pressure, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the brightest institutional point of the post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since its formation, it successfully coped with the most difficult task of transitional Bosnia and Herzegovina – the prosecution of war crimes, organized crime and corruption, as well as the processing of general and economic crimes – thereby it gives constructive contributions to the strengthening of the rule of law and preventing impunity in the local community, but also developing international humanitarian law on a global scale.

With regards to its previous work, as well as with regards to direct cooperation with the institution, I have nothing but praise for the professionalism and credibility of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Also, I hope for successful responses to the current challenges which the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina faces, starting from greater openness towards the community and continuing its active role in structured dialogue, i.e. the rapprochement of the judiciary of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the standards the European Union.

Selma Korjenic, Track Impunity Always Association (TRIAL)

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is an institution that gave and still gives outstanding contributions when it comes to the prosecution of war crimes cases, and in some way, by following the good practices of international courts, it demonstrates that such cases can also be prosecuted in the context of the domestic judiciary.

We are aware that the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina handed down many important verdicts in recent years, which ultimately should be of great importance for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s society. It’s very important that Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina firmly continue to promote and work towards preventing the culture of impunity, which is the most important message that it sent to the citizens of our country.

However, what is also very important is that in its work this institution must make additional efforts in dialogue and communication, especially when it comes to the victims of crimes, their families and those who represents their rights.

Victims and their families must be given full access to justice and to the application and respect of their rights, and in this context, we consider that the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina should make more and very important efforts.

Hikmet Karcic, jurist

I would divide the work of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina into two periods: the period with foreign judges and prosecutors and the period without foreign judges and prosecutors. It is evident that the work of the court was much better during the time of international, and especially American and British influence. I have some reservations regarding the work of the court today, but overall, we can be satisfied with the work of the court if we are accepting the minimal requirements for justice and establishing the truth regarding war crimes.