US Embassy to Bosnia warned Saturday that the changes introduced to the Law on High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council are contrary to European and international standards and would protect against accountability and transparency.

“As we emphasized in the June 2 joint letter that we signed with the OSCE, the EU, and other partners from the international community, the last-minute changes introduced to the draft High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) Law on May 12 were harmful and will undercut efforts to increase transparency in the judicial system and to improve the verification of asset declarations,” the Embassy said.
They noted that their views have not changed.

“As we and our international partners made clear, the HJPC law currently before parliament does not meet international standards and should be amended to the original version prepared by the Ministry of Justice. The process of Euro-Atlantic integration requires hard, exacting work, especially regarding the rule of law,” the Embassy noted.

They concluded by saying that the HJPC package in its current form would not bring the transparency and accountability that the citizens of BiH deserve from their judicial system.