Sarajevo, July 13 2021 – Close to one hundred participants have gathered today, in-person and online, at the final conference of the project EU4Justice: Support to the Fight against Organised Crime and Corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina to mark the results of the action with the members of the judiciary and law enforcement agencies in BiH. The representatives of the HJPC, Centres for Education and Training of Judges and Prosecutors of Republika Srpska and Federation BiH, prosecutors, judges, authorities, and final beneficiaries of this project have indicated the significance of the peer-to-peer approach EU4Justice was nurturing.
“European Union’s support in the area of the rule of law aims at increasing citizens’ trust in BiH justice and home affairs sector by providing BiH institutions with targeted assistance in the fight against organised crime and corruption. With this in mind, the EU4Justice project has delivered tangible results by enhancing the cooperation on the entire criminal justice chain in BiH, including law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and judges, for a more effective response to serious crime, and we hope that BiH will build upon this support”, stated Nicolas Bizel, Head of Operations Section for Justice and Home Affairs and Public Administration Reform of the EU Delegation to BiH.,
The EU4Justice project, funded by the European Union, included national experts in capacity building activities, but also in the production of main project deliverables, including the Guide on Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) in Criminal Matters and Extradition, and Methodological Factsheets – Milestones & strategies for investigating complex financial crime and corruption cases.
“The EU4Justice has few crucial contributions and they represent the legacy of the project. The Guides and Manuals produced through this project will enhance the capabilities of the prosecutors primarily to further improve the quality of their performance. In a world where everything is accelerating and where criminals are building increasingly trans and international networks, this kind of assistance is appreciated especially when the legal international cooperation has become more and more key to addressing these challenges,” stated Admir Suljagić, Director of HJPC Secretariat, who was the focal point for the EU4Justice project. Suljagić is also a senior planning officer for all international projects in the judiciary.
This two and half year’s project has been implemented by Expertise France and mobilized the most important French institutions involved in the fight against corruption and organized crime. Participants benefited from the experience from six EU Member States.
