The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday, December 15, held a ceremony marking the 12th anniversary of Section II for Organized Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption, and promoted a special publication whose backbone is made up of a review of most important legal positions taken by Section II over the past 12 years, which pertain to the prosecution of criminal offenses of corruption and terrorism. On the occasion, addressing the distinguished guests, the President of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ranko Debevec, said that over the past 12 years the Court of BiH processed hundreds of cases related to the criminal offenses of corruption and terrorism, resulting in comprehensive case law.
Richard Wood, Head of the Rule of Law Section at the Office of the Special EU Representative in BiH, said that the European Union remains committed to providing support to the BiH judicial institutions, while Fermin Cordoba, Director of the Human Dimension Department of the OSCE Mission to BiH, referred to the event as a positive step in raising awareness of the important issues tackled by the Court of BiH.
The Dean of the School of Law, University of Sarajevo, Ms. Hajrija Sijerčić Čolić, said that the activities of the Court of BiH in cooperation with non-governmental organizations and educational institutions have been properly recognized by the public, thanking the Court of BiH for keeping its doors open to the Law School students, thus giving them an opportunity to supplement the knowledge acquired through schooling and expand it with other aspects which, for objective reasons, they were not able to realize during the academic program.
The official part of the ceremony marking the 12th anniversary of Section II was closed by Judge of the Court of BiH and a member of the Working Group for Drafting the Publication, Mr. Mirko Božović, who said that the rule of law, as a central part of the process of building a state governed by the rule of law, includes an independent and transparent judicial system which is crucial for the entire society. The Court of BiH remains strongly committed to the process of strengthening the rule of law, and by its judgments continues to send out the message that any disrespect of law is unacceptable, as well as violation of human rights and democratic principles, Judge Božović said.
The Publication on the processing of corruption and terrorism cases is a contribution of the Court of BiH to the National Communication Strategy on the Accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union – from Candidacy to Membership.
