(Sarajevo, 25 October 2019) – A two-day multi-country conference/workshop “Raising Quality Standards in the Judiciary” that was organised by the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the HJPC BiH) in cooperation with the European Commission Directorate General for Enlargement through the Technical Assistance and Information Exchange Instrument (TAIEX) ended today in Sarajevo. 

The purpose of the workshop was to raise awareness about the necessity to improve judicial quality standards, establish cooperation with the Member States of the European Union and exchange experience and best practice in the application of various quality elements to create an efficient and qualitative management system in BiH in accordance with the quality standards developed by the Council of Europe (COE) and the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) and the European Network for Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ) respectively. 

Presentations by international and local experts introduced experiences concerning improvement of judicial quality standards, while the current situation and challenges that the BiH judiciary faces in terms of reaching desired quality standards were considered. There was also consideration of various elements that positively affect the quality of the judiciary, which will help the management of the judicial institutions in BiH, court presidents and chief prosecutors to improve the quality of their institutions’ operations and finally the improvement of the entire legal system. 

As of January 2019, the HJPC BiH has been implementing activities focused on the quality of judicial operations through the “Improving Judicial Quality” Project funded by the Government of Norway. In cooperation with the Courts Administration of Norway and the Council for the Judiciary of the Netherlands, support is being provided to the courts in BiH to improve the quality standards of their operations.

Ms. Ružica Jukić, the Vice-President of the HJPC BiH and Mr. Jens Woelk, Senior Legal Advisor for EU Integration Matters at the HJPC BiH opened the conference/workshop with their opening addresses. 

“One of the strategic objectives of the HJPC BiH, as the umbrella organisation for the judiciary, is the ongoing implementation of reform activities that are vital for BiH’s path towards integration with the European community.” – stressed Mrs Jukic. “There is no single or common response to the question – what is judicial quality, not even in the countries of the European Union. There are best practices concerning elements that require attention as well as standards to which the judiciary strives, which is why we need these types of conferences to gain comprehensive insight and to define ways to raise the quality of the judiciary. The HJPC BiH is working on developing its own, extensive quality management system and, accordingly, we need the whole judicial community to take a proactive approach in identifying optimal solutions.” – concluded Vice-President Jukic.

 

Mr Woelk stated that in addition to merit-based selection and promotion of judicial office holders, in which knowledge and expertise of candidates are the decisive criteria, meeting quality standards in the daily work means to demonstrate the technical expertise which, in turn, will create public trust and confidence. He stressed that this confidence cannot be based exclusively on the judiciary’s power to decide conflicts. Authority means more than power; it means legitimate power. Respect for the more general principles of proper administration of justice, including quality standards, enhances the legitimacy of the judiciary. He then further added that high quality decisions are what citizens and business are expecting from an effective justice system. Public confidence in and respect for the judiciary reaffirm and strengthen the legitimacy of the judiciary. They must be constantly earned and retained by the judiciary through excellent work of the highest standards.

Judicial office holders and representatives of the relevant government legislative offices and the Directorate for European Integration attended the conference/workshop, who, at the same time, are the main stakeholders in establishment and improvement of the judicial quality standards.

Enclosed with the press release are the conclusions adopted at the workshop. 

For more information, please contact the Cabinet of the HJPC BiH at 033 707 518.