SARAJEVO, Jan 27 (Hina) - The State Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina was inaugurated on Monday with the opening of court offices in a former military barracks in downtown Sarajevo.
SARAJEVO, Jan 27 (Hina) - The State Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina was
inaugurated on Monday with the opening of court offices in a former
military barracks in downtown Sarajevo. #L#
Eight recently appointed judges and four prosecutors took their
oaths before the president of the Independent Judicial Commission,
Jan Erik Oja, thus officially assuming their duties. The first
president of the court is an eminent legal expert from Sarajevo,
Martin Raguz.
Except for the Constitutional Court, up until today there was not a
single judicial institution on the state level in Bosnia-
Herzegovina. Since the singing of the Dayton agreement all powers
in that domain were held by the entities.
The Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina was established only after
intensive pressures were exerted by the international community,
particularly against Bosnian Serbs. Its main task will be to fight
against the gravest forms of crime and corruption.
A special department, to deal exclusively with war crimes, should
be opened within the court by the beginning of next year at the
latest.
Bosnian Serb officials did not attend today's opening ceremony.
Their explanation this time was that they could not accept the court
being located in a building which during the war had served as a
"camp for Serbs".
(hina) rml sb