prijava
SARAJEVO, May 26 (FENA) - With regard to the increasing media reports on the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina containing unfounded, incorrect and tendentious allegations, and for the purpose of correcting the wrong image in the public, the judges of the Court issued a press statement to the public and the media warning that pressure on judges can also come from the media.
"Ever since its establishment, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has never ceased to be out of focus of media, associations, politicians and the public in general on account of its competences and the cases that it tries and the high social responsibility of this State institution. Unfortunately, instead of objective reporting, we also witness everyday media reporting that is abundant in unfounded contentions, incorrect allegations and tendentious constructs," it is said in the statement.
In a democracy, all institutions of government, judiciary in particular, must be open to the public about their work and be exposed to public, well-founded and argument-based criticism.
"In contrast, some media in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been continuously publishing media reports that do not constitute objective criticism; they do not contain well-founded legal views or correctly portray the actual situation. Regrettably, from time to time even certain holders of executive and legislative offices and politicians are dragged into such media campaigns and then tend to give imprudent statements. Contours of an orchestrated tendency have been present for some time now, obviously with the same purpose as was the case so many times before – the goal is to subject the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to pressure once again. It is improper and in violation of freedom of speech to raise allegations that do not serve the purpose of preserving the independence and authority of the Court; it is a gross abuse of media to present unverified and incorrect allegations that form a wrong public opinion, cause damage to the Court and the rule of law, and subject the judges to pressure that is supposed to result in the adoption of decisions dictated by those tendentious media reports. The judges of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina will not succumb to such pressure because they are the ones who decide in a lawful procedure on the basis of facts and evidence, in documented proceedings, by a publicly available and reasoned decision subject to review by higher instances, autonomously and independently," the Court of BiH warned.
In contrast, media reports with arbitrary and selective legal interpretations attacking a straw man, portraying the Court as being susceptible to the head of the institution, are but feeble attempts to blur the actual situation – the judicial organization and operations of the courts are significantly different from the organization and work of prosecutor’s offices. The principle of monocracy prevails in prosecutor’s offices, meaning that the chief prosecutor is directly, hierarchically and functionally superior to prosecutors and he/she directly decides by their consent about the issuance of the indictment and its content.
"The role of a court president is completely different from the legal point of view. Court presidents have no authority over decisions and judgments of judges, either legally or in practice, because judges are autonomous and independent in making their decisions. Court decisions undergo several layers of verification, and in a simple criminal proceeding as many as 13 judges decide on various segments of proceedings or proceedings as a whole. In contrast, in the prosecutor’s offices the final decision is adopted by the chief prosecutor, fully autonomously and with full authority, which is completely different from the organization of the courts and the role of court presidents. Judges explain, publish, subject to the test of higher instances as well as the professional and general public each and every one of their decisions, so they have rightfully joined the well-founded media reports on the need to publish indictments issued by offices of prosecutors in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as has been the practice of courts to publish their judgments," the statement said.
Due to all the above, judges of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina reject the incoherent reports on purported influences on their individual and collective judicial independence, appealing that the reporting by certain media return to the frameworks of the well-founded, correct and true, and that one should stop creating an unbearable and tasteless media climate whose obvious goal is, by way of false reporting, to undermine the authority and reputation of the judges and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Finally, judges of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina once again reiterate their full commitment to a lawful, conscientious and honorable, independent, autonomous, dignified and adequate performance of the assigned judicial duties, in accordance with the law and the code.
"Appreciating the gravity of the moment, caused by the ever more frequent reporting of this kind by certain and always the same media, we will send this press statement to the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the missions of international organizations and countries monitoring the rule of law and implementation of peace, with another invitation to them to inspect the court’s operations and carry out a monitoring and expertise of all judicial proceedings, in accordance with law," it is concluded in a statement signed by the President and Judges of the Court of BiH.
(FENA) A. B.
