HJPC BiH and EU close to agreement on Rulebook amendments

At Wednesday's session of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HJPC BiH), members discussed correspondence with the Delegation of the European Union and EU institutions in Brussels following the April adoption of amendments to the Rulebook on the Declaration and Verification of Assets of Judicial Office Holders.

HJPC President Sanin Bogunic said that five issues had remained unresolved in communication with the European Union after the amendments were adopted. As previously reported by Detektor, the exchange of proposals and official correspondence between the HJPC and the EU followed a meeting at the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina attended by HJPC representatives, BiH Justice Minister Davor Bunoza, and Head of the EU Delegation to BiH Luigi Soreca.

Bogunić said that European partners have since accepted four of the five disputed issues, leaving only the method for selecting external experts unresolved. He added that both sides are working toward a solution acceptable to all parties.

"Under the proposed Rulebook, which is expected to enter into force and will ultimately be considered by the relevant working bodies and the Council, the EU Delegation and Brussels insist that external experts should be nominated by Expertise France and its partners, with the Council making the final appointment. Our Rulebook envisages a selection committee composed of two members nominated by the EU Delegation and one member appointed by the HJPC. At the same time, they believe the nomination process should fall entirely within Expertise France's remit. On the other hand, they have accepted all of our conditions regarding the public call for applications and the selection criteria for candidates," Bogunic said.

He added that the selection criteria had been one of the main points of disagreement.

At its April session, despite objections from the European Commission, the HJPC adopted amendments to the Rulebook introducing stricter eligibility requirements for external experts. The amendments require candidates to hold a law degree and have at least ten years of experience as a university professor, judge, prosecutor or attorney working on financial crime, conflict of interest or illicit enrichment cases. Candidates must also have no criminal record, be under the age of 70, and their engagement ends automatically once they reach the age limit.

Preferred qualifications include previous experience in asset verification and proficiency in one of Bosnia and Herzegovina's official languages.

The European Commission previously stated that it understood the HJPC's intention to better define the pool of eligible candidates but stressed the need to strike a balance between qualification requirements and preserving the independence of external experts. As previously reported by Detektor, the Commission also noted that Expertise France had agreed to provide more regular information on recruitment procedures and welcomed the possibility of publishing future calls for expressions of interest on the HJPC's website in addition to its standard publication channels.