OSCE Mission to BiH promotes regional co-operation in fighting crime

SARAJEVO, 7 October 2011 – An OSCE-supported two-day conference to foster regional co-operation among the judiciaries in the region in the fight against corruption, organized crime and war crimes concluded in Sarajevo today.

“The OSCE strongly supports regional co-operation in criminal matters; enhancing regional co-operation is essential when dealing with war crimes, as well as in the fight against organized crime, corruption, trafficking of human beings – all of these crimes are neither defined nor contained by national borders,” said Fletcher M. Burton, the Head of OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina. “To effectively respond to these crimes, which constitute an attack on human dignity, a strong and independent judiciary is required.”

The Presidents of the Supreme Courts and Chief State Prosecutors from the countries of South-Eastern Europe, as well as representatives of OSCE field operations from the region noted positive developments in the bilateral co-operation between countries in the region, and the strengthened technical and professional collaboration, but concluded that there is still more work to be done.

Meddzida Kreso, President of the Court of BiH, said: “This conference provided an opportunity for our institutions to effectively collaborate, because direct co-operation of the judiciaries of all countries of the region is imperative for the consistent application of the rule of law principle and combating crime in the region.” 

The conference supported by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina was held upon the initiative of the country’s highest judicial institutions: the Court of BiH, Supreme Court of the Republika Srpska, Supreme Court of the Federation of BiH and their respective Prosecutors’ offices.

The conference was also supported by the Swiss Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the War Crimes Justice Project funded by the EU and implemented by ODIHR in partnership with the ICTY, the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute and OSCE field operations.