OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina urges the adoption of the new BiH Justice Sector Reform Strategy

Sarajevo, 2 June 2022 - The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Mission), in the period from March to May 2022, supported the Ministry of Justice of BiH in the organization of five consultative meetings across the country on the Draft Justice Sector Reform Strategy 2021-2027 (Strategy). These meetings were part of the wider process designed to resolve stagnation around justice sector reform and advance the adoption of the Strategy, while also enabling more inclusive and informed participation of relevant actors. These also aimed to encourage key authorities to support the implementation of the Strategy, including in providing the required financial resources.

Crucially, the Strategy ensures ownership by local institutions over the delivery of concrete inputs and results in relation to justice sector reform in BiH.

The Mission urges authorities to swiftly adopt and then effectively implement the Strategy, which provides the institutional framework that is an essential component of wider, much-needed justice sector reform in BiH.

The Delegation of the European Union to BiH/ European Union Special Representative to BiH (EU Office to BiH) also follows this process closely. In its 2021 Country Report on BiH, the European Commission urged BiH to adopt a new Justice Sector Reform Strategy and the related action plan in the coming year, to replace those that expired in 2018, as part of the authorities’ commitment to the citizens of BiH, who deserve an independent, accountable, and efficient justice sector. Judicial reform is further a crucial component of the EU accession process.

The OSCE Mission to BiH, in partnership with the EU Office to BiH, will continue supporting this process.