HJPC Sentences Prosecutor With Negligence in Two War Crimes Cases

Ilic plead guilty to the charges and was fined with a reduced salary for three months. She was disciplined for failing to commit a single action towards finishing two war crimes investigations for over seven and a half years and eight years, respectively.
 
The president of the disciplinary commission of the Bosnian High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC), Alma Dzaferovic, said in her decision that Ilic was found guilty of “being unjustifiably late in her duties as a prosecutor and disrespecting her role as a prosecutor.”
 
Ilic failed to take action in processing a war crime investigation from December 2005-March 2014, and another from February 2006-December 2013.
 
The disciplinary commission considered the following factors mitigating circumstances: that Ilic only failed to act through negligence and not ill intent, that she was always praised for her work, and the fact that she expressed regret for the violation.
 
“The commission considers the fact that Ilic never faced disciplinary charges during her career as an especially mitigating factor,” the decision states.
 
The fact that almost eight years had passed without any progress in two war crimes investigations was considered an aggravating circumstance in her case.
 
“The prosecutor failed to take a single step toward finishing the cases, even though through with her long prosecutorial experience she should have been aware that there was a need for more expeditious action in these war crimes cases, because there is a lot of public interest in them,” the disciplinary decision states.
 
Bosnia and Herzegovina is still dealing with a huge backlog of war crimes investigations. In the past decade, a total of 750 people have been charged and proceedings against more than 2110 others have been suspended. However, investigations into alleged war crimes by at least 7000 more suspects have yet to be resolved, according to HJPC data.
 
In July 2015, the parliament in Bosnia’s Serb-led entity Republika Srpska voted for a referendum on the state-level prosecution and court, because of objections to its allegedly slow pace and bias against Serb victims.
 
Disciplinary cases against prosecutors Mirko Lecic and Munib Halilovic are currently ongoing.