On Friday, 20 December 2019, a group of 20 students of the Mehmedalija Mak Dizdar elementary school from Sarajevo, and their teacher  Aida Muratović, visited the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the framework of the HJPC’s project titled “Building an Efficient Judiciary in the Service of Citizens” IPA 2017.

The two-hour visit itinerary, adjusted to the age of the visitors, has been drafted with the participation of a large team of professional judicial staff from the Public Information and Outreach Section, Legal Department, Court Management Section, and psychologists and social workers from the Witness Support Section of the Court. In the first part of the visit, through a role-play scenario the students were able to learn more about the key role of participants in judicial proceedings, and they themselves took part in a scenario that enabled them to play the roles of judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and witnesses. In the second part of the visit the students saw some practical examples of technical capacities of the Court in terms of treatment of witnesses under protective measures, and also got better acquainted with the role and work of certified court interpreters.

The students were very interested in finding out more about the role of participants in proceedings before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and they actively participated in practical exercises while asking a large number of questions.

With this program, the Court has emphasized its determination to cooperate with the community, and confirmed that working with young people, and providing the Court’s capacities to educative purposes will be a permanent activity to be continued in the future.