The number of reports to the Office of the Disciplinary Prosecutor in the first six months of the current year increased by 30.5 percent compared to the same period last year, while the number of complaints that are currently being processed increased by 43 percent. According to the data presented by Chief Disciplinary Prosecutor Alena Kurspahić Nadarević at the session of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) of BiH, the Office has received 525 reports since the beginning of the year, and is currently processing 923 complaints, Detektor reports.
Among the complaints, there has been an increase in the number of those related to the length of the proceedings, while part of the reports also refer to allegations of undeclared assets of holders of judicial functions. Since the beginning of the year, the Office ex officio has opened 32 cases, which are mainly related to the statute of limitations, while 39 complaints were filed by persons professionally engaged in the judiciary.
Kurspahić Nadarević stated that the average time for resolving complaints was reduced compared to previous years, which, as she assessed, indicates the increased efficiency of the Office of the Disciplinary Prosecutor.
16 disciplinary proceedings were completed, while 11 disciplinary measures against one prosecutor and ten judges were final. Two proceedings were suspended due to the retirement of judicial office holders. The most common legally imposed disciplinary measure was salary reduction, which was imposed in six cases. In four cases, a public warning was given, and in one case a written warning.
Due to the previously imposed measures of removal from the performance of duties, eight holders of judicial functions are currently suspended.
On the first day of the session, the council unanimously adopted a conclusion that will allow the Department for conducting proceedings based on reports to have direct access to data in the CMS, i.e. the System for managing cases in courts.
As explained, direct access should enable more efficient verification of data and speed up the processing of reports. This point of the session was closed to the public due to the sensitivity of the issue of access to CMS and TCMS.
The President of the Council, Sanin Bogunić, explained that access will be provided with strict restrictions, that is, for two employees who will be nominated by the Department. As one of the reasons for the introduction of direct access, the problems that arise in practice when verifying data are mentioned.
The representative of the Council of Europe, Sažida Tulić, presented at the session of the HJPC of Bosnia and Herzegovina the activities of the second phase of the project on “supporting the coherent national application of the European Convention on Human Rights and facilitating the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina”. The first phase of the project was completed on December 31, 2025, and support to the judiciary during that period was realized through a series of educations for holders of judicial functions, as well as through the development of various tools and mechanisms for judicial institutions.
The second phase of the project started in January and will last until December 2027. During that period, the Council of Europe plans to continue supporting the judiciary.
The Department for Improving the Efficiency and Quality of Work in the Courts submitted a report on the resolution of cases before the courts in the first half of this year. In the report, among other things, it was stated that the District Commercial Court in Bijeljina fulfilled the prescribed norm, but it was stated that it was a court with a relatively small number of cases.
Among the courts that did not achieve the norm is the Basic Court in Prnjavor, which, as stated, has been at the lower limit of realization for a long time. The municipal courts in Široki Brijeg and Ljubuški did not fulfill the norm either, and their implementation of cases was affected by the strikes that took place in those courts.
The Appellate Court of the Brčko District of BiH records a very low realization of cases for the second time in a row. For this reason, representatives of the Department for Improving the Efficiency and Quality of Work in Courts held meetings with the president of this court. As stated at the session, the President of the Appellate Court of Brčko District gave assurances that the results will be improved during the third and fourth quarters of this year.
When it comes to the age structure of cases, 62 percent of resolved cases refer to cases from 2025, while more than 80 percent of cases are not older than two years. This was assessed as a positive indicator.
On the first day of the session, the Council considered the invitation of the Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina to appoint a representative of the HJPC to the working group to consider the initiative for the reform of the appellate litigation procedure. The decision was made to appoint Vice President of the Council Velimir Ninković and Head of the Cabinet of the President of the HJPC Demirel Delić.
At the session, they reminded that the initiative was launched between 2021 and 2022, and Council member Davor Martinović pointed out that the Ministry needed until today to respond to their initiative, and that the process is being unnecessarily delayed.
Martinović said that the Standing Commission for Legislation unanimously proposed that the existing materials be shaped into a ready-made proposal for a legal solution, which would be sent to the relevant ministries, after which they could forward it to the parliaments within their competences.
The session will continue today.
