The European Commission’s (EC) is seriously concerned about Bosnia’s failure to amend its Law on Criminal Procedure, which, if not changed in line with international standards, could hinder Bosnia’s fight against organized crime and compromise international cooperation, EC’s Christian Danielsson wrote in an open letter to the House of Peoples.

“It is of utmost importance that the amendments are in line with international standards on fighting serious crimes, in particular the UN Convention on Transnational Organised Crime that Bosnia and Herzegovina ratified,” the Director General for Enlargement wrote in the letter addressed to Speaker of Bosnia’s House of Peoples Ognjen Tadic, his two deputy speakers, the Heads of the Bosniak, Bosnian Croat and Bosnian Serb Causes in the House of Peoples and Bosnia’s Ambassador to the EU.  

The Constitutional Court declared some the Law’s articles addressing the process of granting immunity from legal prosecution, physical search and special investigative procedures unconstitutional in 2016 and gave lawmakers six months to adopt adequate changes. The parliamentarians have been dragging their feet on the issue and the court said it will in May declare the parts ruled illegal invalid.

“Should the inaction of the legislator in Bosnia and Herzegovina lead to a legal vacuum due to annulment of the current provisions by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Constitutional Court, or should the legislation adopted not be in line with international standards, then not only the fight against corruption and organized crime would be seriously undermined but also international cooperation in this very important area would be put in jeopardy and may affect the security of European Union and its Member States,” the letter states.