The Judges of the Department of the Criminal Law of the Federation BIH Supreme Court had the opportunity to discuss the influence of the European Law and Case Law of the ECHR over national law in EU Member States and BiH, with Judges from the Court of Appeal of Aix en Provence (France), under the auspices of EU-funded project EU4Justice.
Roundtable – Influence of the European Law and Case Law of the ECHR over national law in EU Member States and BiH – was held in Sarajevo on 19-20 September. The Speakers were Mr Luc Fontaine, First President of the Criminal Law Department of the Court of Appeal of Aix -en- Provence; Ms dr.sc. Ljiljana Filipović, Chief Judge at the Criminal Law Department at Supreme Court of FBiH; Mr Emir Neradin, Judge at Supreme Court of FBiH; Ms Božidarka Dodik, Judge at Supreme Court of FBiH; Mr David Macouin, Judge counsellor at the Criminal Law Department of the Court of Appeal of Aix – en – Provence; Mr Slavko Marić, Judge at Supreme Court of FBiH.
“The goal of events like this is to contribute to the promotion of building knowledge and further strengthening the Rule of Law EU and neighbouring countries.” – stated Ms Isabelle Arnal, EU4Justice Project Team Leader.
The presentations and the topics that were discussed are:
- “The impact of the case law of ECHR in the criminal procedure code ‘s practice and the criminal code in France”- Mr Luc Fontaine, First President of the Criminal Law Department of the Court of Appeal of Aix -en- Provence;
- “Impact of ECHR Practice on FBiH Legislation and Case-Law on temporary security measures to ensure the seizure of property gain obtained by criminal act” – Ms dr.sc. Liljana Filipović, Chief Judge of the Criminal Law Department at Supreme Court of FBiH
- “Impact of ECHR Practice on FBiH Legislation and Case-Law on Special Investigative Measures”, Mr Slavko Marić, judge at Supreme Court of FBiH
- “Impact of ECHR Practice on FBiH Legislation and Case-Law on the Right to a Trial within a Reasonable Time” – Ms Božidarka Dodik, judge at Supreme Court of FBiH
- “The impact of the case law of ECHR in the criminal procedure code ‘s practice and the criminal code in France” – Mr David Macouin, Judge counsellor at the law Criminal Law Department of the Court of Appeal of Aix – en – Provence
- “Impact of ECHR Practice on FBiH Legislation and Case-Law regarding the Evidence Action Search of Persons and Premises” – Mr. Emir Neradin, judge at Supreme Court of FBiH.
The goal of the roundtable was to start a common work in order to spread a common understanding of rule of law during the investigative phase, during the trial phase, in the Criminal Procedure Code and the Criminal Code.
The project Team Leader stated that overall discussions resulted in the following key points:
- The case law of the ECHR is an efficient vehicle for harmonizing the rule of law standards,
- The common standards do not entail their implementation in an identical manner,
- The ECHR jurisprudence impacts the case law in BiH and France on daily basis
- This implies a change of culture and practice, judicial decision-making process;
It is important that the legal community from the EU Member states and neighboring countries of the EU exchanges practices on the ECtHR case law and doing so every legal system is progressing forward.
This kind of discussion will be continued in other courts throughout the Bosnia and Herzegovina.
