At the Final Conference, the participants were addressed by H.E. Christine Toudic, Ambassador of the Republic of France to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Mr. Nicolas Bizel, Head of the Section for Justice and Home Affairs and Public Administration Reform of the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as by Mr. Halil Lagumdžija, President of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, and Ms. Cvijeta Jekić, Deputy Director of the Department for Governance, Justice and Human Rights Expertise France.

The goal of the EU4JUSTICE Project activities was to strengthen the rule of law in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by increasing citizens’ trust in the justice and home affairs sector of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while providing targeted assistance to the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the fight against organized crime and corruption.

Participants in the Panel that pertained to the perspectives of the judiciary in Bosnia and Herzegovina were addressed by Ms. Gordana Tadić, Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and by Mr. Drino Galičić, National Legal Adviser on Rule of Law at the EU Special Representative Office, as well as by Mr. Bernard Legras, EU4JUSTICE Project Expert, who was staying at the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the duration of the project.

In her address, the Chief Prosecutor, who is also a member of the Steering Committee of the EU4JUSTICE Project, stressed the importance of this Project and its contribution in the fight against organized crime and corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was provided to the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well to all the Prosecutor’s Offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina and police agencies that monitor their work.

Chief Prosecutor especially emphasized the importance of training sessions conducted by experts from France in the field of international legal assistance and financial investigations, in the course of which prosecutors and employees of police agencies were introduced to the standards and experiences of EU countries in this field.

Chief Prosecutor also stressed the importance of the Guide on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and Extradition, which is the result of the joint work of the EU4JUSTICE Project and the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and which was presented at the Conference by its authors, Mr Bernard Rabatel and Mr. Nikola Sladoje. Methodological Fact Sheets were also presented by Mr. Francesco de Sanctis, and Mr. Mirza Hukeljić, Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, also participated in that project.

The attending panelists concluded that the continuation of the Project would be needed in order to provide further support to the judiciary of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the fight against organized crime and corruption, so as to meet the conditions that were set as a priority for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s membership in the European Union.