DELEGATION OF LEGAL OFFICERS AND ADVISORS FROM CANTONAL AND DISTRICT PROSECUTOR'S OFFICES VISITED THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE AND THE COURT OF BIH

Delegation of newly appointed legal officers and advisers from the cantonal and district prosecutor’s offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, visited the Prosecutor's Office and the Court of BiH, and discussed with the representatives of these institutions about the history, jurisdiction and organization of judicial institutions, the Prosecutor's Office and the Court of BiH.

The legal officers and advisors in question have no prior experience of work in prosecutor's offices or the prosecution of war crimes. The OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the support of the Judicial and Prosecutorial Training Center of the Federation BiH, organized a two-week training for the newly employed legal officers and advisors, which will take place in the period from April 8- 19 April 2013 in Sarajevo, for a  period of ten days.

Representative of the Prosecutor's Office, Legal Advisor - Adna Dobojlić-Ucoglan, presented on the history of the Prosecutor's Office from its inception in 2003 to date, then the organization of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH and its  Departments, as well as on the previous work and the results of this institution. The largest portion of her presentation was related to the operation and organization of the Special Department for War Crimes within the Prosecutor's Office of BiH.

During the course of the visit the guests attended a trial of Section I of the Court of BiH and were informed about the work of the Court of BiH. They also had the opportunity to visit the premises of the Court and the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, where they were able to get some more information that is relevant to their future work, especially in war crimes cases.

This visit was organized by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which launched its War Crimes Processing Project with financial assistance from the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, the United States and Italy. The duration of the Project is approximately 15 months i.e. up to the availability of funds from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA), and it aims to provide further support for the prosecution of war crimes in BiH. The main objective of this project is to provide urgent assistance to BiH judiciary to speed up the fair and efficient prosecution of war crimes.

Under the program, 16 legal officers and advisors will be employed in the cantonal and district prosecutors' offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to help accelerate the prosecution of war crimes.