CHIEF PROSECUTOR OF PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE OF BIH VISITS HERZEGOVINA-NERETVA CANTON PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE IN MOSTAR

The visit is part of the planned visits of the Chief Prosecutor to the Prosecutor’s Offices in both BiH entities and the Brčko District of BiH.

The Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gordana Tadić, paid a working visit to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton in Mostar on 4 September where she met with Chief Prosecutor Zdenko Kovač and his associates.

The working meeting discussed the work of the Prosecutor’s Offices during the COVID 19 pandemic and in particular the work on war crimes cases, human trafficking and smuggling of people cases, as well as organised crime cases.

The topics discussed at the meeting were the capacities of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton Prosecutor’s Office for work on war crimes cases, as the prosecution of the cases transferred to Entity Prosecutor’s Office is being analysed in accordance with Article 27a of the Criminal Procedure Code of BiH, and the importance of extending the 2019 IPA project related to war crimes prosecutions and the work of the judiciary.

The joint conclusion is that despite the problems caused by the COVID 19 pandemic, activities on these cases are being taken in accordance with the plans made, and something that was particularly emphasised is the need to adopt a new Strategy for Working on War Crimes Cases in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Chief Prosecutor stressed the importance of establishing a Network of Prosecutors and Investigators in order to more effectively combat human trafficking and smuggling of persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina and spoke about the activities being undertaken to this end.

The Strategic Forum of Chief Prosecutors and Police Officials established in BiH was also discussed in order to coordinate the work of the prosecutorial community, which has about 380 prosecutors at all levels in Bosnia and Herzegovina and which helps to address the issues of jurisdiction, in particular regarding organised crime and economic crime cases.

The Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gordana Tadić, stated that this was the first working visit to the entity Prosecutor’s Offices and that in the coming period she planned to visit other Prosecutor’s Offices in BiH and held working meetings on these topics.