At the request of the representative of the EU4Justice Project phase II, a meeting was held in the office of the President of the Municipal Court in Sarajevo, Damir Batotić, on September 11, 2023. Which was attended by Helena Papa, team leader of the Project EU4 Justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina, judge Jorge Orbach Martinez, judge from Spain and the leader of the component 1 Project EU4 Justice – Phase II, Borja Jimenez Munoz, Spanish prosecutor and expert engaged in project in the component related to the court efficiency, Katica Artuković, president of the Cantonal Court in Široki Brijeg and natiol expert engaged in project, and Lana Šahman, legal advisor at the Project
The representatives of the project pointed out that the focus of the project is the fight against corruption and organized crime in BiH through four components, the implementation of which will involve international and national experts. Considering that Component 1—Strengthening the monitoring and evaluation capacities of the judiciary—concerns the improvement of the work of the courts and the judiciary, the representatives of the project showed a great interest in the organization of the work of the Municipal Court, backlogs in work, and the problems that the court faces. The president of the court informed the present participants of the meeting about the various organizational activities that were carried out and the activities that were planned in the upcoming period in the Municipal Court in Sarajevo, the goal of which is the establishment of standards of behavior that are applied in advanced legal systems.
The representatives of the project thanked the president of the court for the reception and expressed the hope that they will cooperate successfully in the future, adding that they have acquired useful information that will significantly help them in their work on the project. Given that within the project cooperation with smaller courts will be established, the project team will have the opportunity to compare the organization of the work of the largest court in BiH with courts that have a much smaller number of judges and cases in their work.
