prijava
SARAJEVO, March 8 (FENA) - I call on the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH to urgently adopt amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of BiH, which would enable the full implementation of state-level jurisdiction in criminal cases and in accordance with international standards for the fight against corruption and organized crime. BiH should be able to fulfill its obligations established by the Constitution. Criminal prosecution of law violations and prosecution of offenses that threaten some of the basic values that the state should protect through the criminal code is one of those obligations," told FENA the High Representative Valentin Inzko.
Responding to a question about the grounds for fear that the justice system could be paralyzed when it comes to prosecuting the most serious and most complex criminal offenses and corruption, Inzko said that BiH criminal code has to strengthen the ability to fight crime, and not aim to hinder the state in enforcing its jurisdiction and fulfilling the obligation to preserve the legal order.
Inzko said that reaching this goal would be an unequivocal signal from domestic authorities that they are sincere in the fight against organized crime and corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that they are sincere in their intention to follow international standards.
The Constitutional Court of BiH failed to adopt a decision on non-implementation of its decision on the unconstitutionality of several provisions of the BiH Criminal Procedure Code and the Law on the Intelligence and Security Agency (OSA), since they were not amended within six months. It was communicated that the Court will discuss this matter at its next session that could be held on March 23.
“The parliamentary parties yesterday missed a unique opportunity to approve the urgent procedure and adopted the Draft Law on Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the BiH House of Representatives.
Unfortunately, they did not do it, and the vote showed which political parties are truly sincere in their will to fight crime and corruption. There is a high possibility that the Constitutional Court will soon decide to issue a decision on non-implementation of its decision on the Criminal Procedure Code and putting out of force of the abovementioned provisions,” emphasized Inzko.
The High Representative recalls that the Criminal Procedure Code of BiH prescribes which criminal offenses are allowed to be processed under special investigative activities, such as interception or controlled delivery, especially in complex cases of organized crime and corruption. The law also prescribes when it is possible to grant immunity in exchange for testimony, as well as certain aspects related to the duration of investigation, as well as a general provision that serves as the legal basis for the indictment in all cases.
“If the Constitutional Court puts this provision out of force, according to the information that I have received, this would affect about 50 to 100 cases that the Prosecutor's Office of BiH is currently working on. I do not think that I exaggerate when I say this would be a very serious blow to the fight against crime and corruption. No one can imagine all the consequences that it might produce for the ongoing cases, and whether it would even be possible to ensure a valid and regular trial procedure. Measures taken to collect evidence would in this case become unlawful, and special investigative activities would no longer exist and would not be allowed to be applied in the conduct of investigations and the conduct of proceedings, "Inzko said.
In addition to this, Inzko added that these provisions also constitute the legal basis for the filing of indictments, so it might be brought in question whether the State Prosecution will be in a legal capacity to file any kind of indictment.
“The BiH judiciary would become paralyzed in terms of enforcing its jurisdiction in criminal matters, which would be the most serious blow to the fight against crime, given that such a situation could be equated to a complete inexistence of the Prosecutor's Office as an institution,” concluded the High Representative Inzko.
(FENA) S. R.
