Local Justice – Improved Witness Protection Measures

Marija Anicic Zgonjanin, acting president of the District Court in Banja Luka, said this was a very important project because witnesses would otherwise be deprived of the necessary protection needed for efficient trials.

“This project brings us closer to all European standards pertaining to witnesses, protection of witnesses and trial efficiency. (…) We have observed the lack of expert support to witnesses at trials over the course of the past years,” Anicic Zgonjanin said.

She said that those who testified at war crimes trials faced more difficult situations than other witnesses. Consequently, they often gave up on testifying at trials.

In addition to the Court in Banja Luka, the State Court and its Prosecution, as well as the Sarajevo Cantonal Court and Prosecution, have witness support sections.

“The Ministry is fully aware of the importance of the project. For that reason, we said at the very beginning of its implementation that it should not just cover district and cantonal courts, but also prosecutions,” said Dzerard Selman, minister of justice of Republika Srpska, RS.

Selman expressed his satisfaction with the work of district courts in RS, and particularly the one in Banja Luka.

“The transfer of war crimes cases from the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to district and cantonal courts should be facilitated so the cases can be processed more quickly and victims can attain a degree of satisfaction and justice,” Selman said.

Milorad Novkovic, president of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, announced that a significant number of war crimes cases will be processed before entity judicial institutions in the future, as foreseen under the State War Crimes Processing Strategy.

“Bosnia and Herzegovina, its Entities and judicial institutions have a legal and moral obligation to create the conditions for the processing of war crimes cases at all levels in accordance with the same standards applied by competent judicial institutions,” Novkovic said.

The State War Crimes Processing Strategy envisages the referral of less sensitive cases to cantonal and district judicial institutions.

G.O.

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This article is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID.) The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of Balkan investigative reporting network (BIRN) and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.