Bosnia's top judicial institution has already amnestied corruption in the country and has long lost its bearing, Judge Branko Peric told N1 Wednesday, adding that the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) is full of people with no integrity or ability to manage the judicial system, which is why they only produce even more scandals.
“Milan Tegeltija, the President of the HJPC is not the only one responsible for the situation in the institution. The combination of some unfortunate circumstances has brought people to that institution who have neither integrity nor ability to manage the judicial system. We are constantly focusing on Milan Tegeltija, but 14 other members are sitting there, as well. Unfortunately, they support Milan Tegeltija and accept the way the institution functions – the institution focused on trading in influence, and not on the system as a whole,” Judge Peric pointed out.
A Bosnian investigative journalism portal Istraga.ba released an audio recording last Thursday allegedly featuring the head of the HJPC which appoints and sanctions all judges and prosecutors in the country, discussing the possibility of naming the sister of a former member of the Council to the post of Judge in the Banja Luka Basic Court.
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According to Istraga.ba, the conversation featured in the recording was between him and former HJPC member Miljana Buha.
The portal also added that Buha insisted on the appointment of her sister, Sanja Cegar, and that Tegeltija can allegedly be heard saying that the “tactic” should be left to him.
Both Tegeltija and Buha denied the allegations in statements for N1, arguing that the recording proves the opposite – that they agreed such an appointment would be a conflict of interest.
” If people of integrity were sitting there, a third of the people could ask for a session to be scheduled. Two-thirds of the members could dismiss the HJCP President because of the way he runs the institution and that would be a problem solved,” he stated.
The Judge also stated that ruling parties do not want to see the rule of law in Bosnia.
“The ruling politicians do not want the rule of law, this kind of system suits them because they are amnestied from responsibility. Milan Tegeltija and the HJPC have amnestied corruption in this country,” he stressed.
“That institution (HJPC) does not understand its role,” Judge Peric noted.
In his opinion, only the international community can solve the problem with Bosnia's judiciary and that we are witnessing a political project aimed at undermining the judiciary from the inside.
As an institution, the HJPC is already demolished, it is disintegrating, the President is already working from Banja Luka, and now the Republika Srpska entity sub-council will move there as well since it will move to work online. It is a disintegration that could end catastrophically. That is the interest of politics. “I'm not sure that everyone is interested in the collapse of the judiciary, but no one showed any interest in solving these problems,” Peric told N1.
