The High Representative, Christian Schwarz-Schilling, issued a decision today amending the BiH Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) making this institution more efficient.
The amendments were requested by the HJPC itself; at the 14 June 2007 session of the HJPC, a unanimous decision was reached about the necessity and urgency of introducing amendments.
The amendments will achieve the following:
- Enable decisions to suspend a judge or prosecutor to take immediate effect so that judges will no longer be able to work in a technical capacity pending appeal;
- Separate the work of the HJPC itself as an independent and autonomous body from the technical and administrative tasks of the Secretariat of the Council
A professional and independent judiciary is a key requirement for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Euro-Atlantic integration. As such, the existence of the HJPC is key to ensuring that the judiciary isfree from political interference in its work.