Judges, prosecutors, defence lawyers in Bosnia and Herzegovina discuss co-operation under OSCE/ODIHR war crimes project
A training seminar for judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers handling war crimes cases in Bosnia and Herzegovina took place in Sarajevo on 16-17 September.
The aim of the seminar was to improve effectiveness of complex trials on war and organized crimes more effective. The seminar was led by Phillip Weiner, Judge of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, prosecutor Drew Engel and defense attorneys Edina Residovic and Aleksandar Lazarevic.
The seminar was part of a project led by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and funded by the European Union. The event was organized in co-operation with the Criminal Defense Section of the Ministry of Justice and the Federation Judicial and Prosecutorial Training Centre.
“This is an opportunity for the judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers working on war crimes cases to become familiar with best practices and experiences from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia,” said Christopher Engels, War Crimes Justice Project Regional Coordinator.
“These joint training seminars have been developed following requests received directly from the country’s justice actors. This demonstrates their willingness to work together to efficiently process war crimes cases while ensuring that the rights of the accused are respected,” Engels said.
The War Crimes Justice Project is a 4-million euro regional project funded by the European Union and carried out by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODHIR) in partnership with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute and OSCE field operations.