SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), November 14 (SeeNews) – Bosnia's justice and law enforcement system is burdened by frequent institutional conflicts which take the form of bitter and public accusations between prosecutors’ offices, courts and law enforcement agencies, creating an atmosphere of distrust among the key actors applying the law, corruption watchdog Transparency International said.
The system is further complicated by the fact that Bosnia has four nearly completely autonomous legal systems - state, two entities (one of which has ten cantons) and the Brcko District - which makes inter-institutional cooperation even more challenging, the non-governmental organisation said in a report entitled, Fighting Corruption in the West Balkans and Turkey: Priorities for Reform, published late last week.
"These systems are virtually detached from each other. Legislative activity that regulates the work of the judiciary and law enforcement agencies takes place within those jurisdictions without sufficient harmonisation. This set-up also has negative implications for judicial resources, as funding comes from 14 different local budgets, which undermines stability and predictability and makes the judiciary vulnerable to political interference through budgeting processes," Transparency commented.
The agency added that all these factors open up room for uneven judicial practices, inconsistent application of laws and unequal treatment of the same factual and legal situations, while criminals continue to operate unhindered across these administrative boundaries.
In Bosnia political interference in the selection and appointment of management personnel is also believed to be commonplace, the organisation said.
Furthermore, executive power openly exerts pressure on the prosecutors’ offices by issuing demands and making threats in public. In one example of such pressure, Transparency noted, the president of the Serb Republic entity threatened to abolish a local court, following its ruling to freeze the bank account of a company that had been taken over by the government after its failed privatisation.
In order to correct short comings in the justice and law enforcement system, Transparency suggested that Bosnia introduce mechanisms to oversee prosecutors’ unlimited discretionary powers to initiate or call off investigations and strengthen the communication between the prosecutor’s offices and the police across difference executive levels, particularly in terms of documenting corruption-related crimes.
In terms of political pressure on media, the agency said that the majority of media in Bosnia are dependent on and controlled by the ruling elite and powerful oligarchies. "Government institutions remain the biggest advertisers, which they use as leverage to finance outlets whose editorial policies promote their interests," it said.
In order to enhance media independence and competition, the government should ensure transparent and competitive procedures for the allocation of state subsidies and establish transparent rules for advertising in the media, Transparency added.
On the subject of political finances, it said that the absence of detailed audits of parties’ costs in Bosnia and the limited public availability of parties’ expenditure figures, due to the imprecisely defined mandate of the Central Election Commission, leaves ample room for irregularities.
In order to eradicate these issues, Bosnia should amend its Law on Political Party Financing to include the use single bank accounts for all financial transactions of political parties, Transparency commented. Strict penalties for the abuse of public resources for election campaigns should also be applied, among other measures, it noted.