Bosnia’s top judicial institution changed on Wednesday part of a decision it adopted previously and allowed judges and prosecutors to cooperate with an investigative commission the parliament had set up to review the work of the judiciary - as long as it does not affect the independence of the judiciary.
The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC), the institution in charge of, among other things, appointing and disciplining judicial officials, said that “Courts and prosecutor's offices may submit data from official records or on the work of the institution, for which they assess that they do not endanger the independence of the judiciary, to the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its bodies upon request, without submitting any data on individual cases.”
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“Those judges and prosecutors who independently decide to respond to requests of the temporary commission of inquiry are obliged to refrain from answering questions or commenting on any court, prosecutorial and disciplinary cases,” it said.
The HJPC declared last week that it would not cooperate with the parliament commission, arguing that it represents parliamentary oversight on the work of the judicial branch of government.
The institution argued last Friday that the House of Representatives went beyond its competencies in establishing the commission and that it represents “gross interference and inadmissible pressure of the legislative power on the work of the judiciary, and as such violates the democratic constitutional system of three-part division of power.”
