The Mission said in a press release the Report on War Crimes Trials highlighted developments in 2005 and the first half of 2006, concluding that war crimes proceedings as a whole were increasingly objective and impartial compared to previous years, but that it was necessary to consolidate this positive trend.
"Issues that still raise concern are: impartiality and the application of a uniform standard of criminal accountability; quality of judicial decisions; adequate defence by court-appointed counsel; witness security and support; as well as inter-state judicial co-operation," read the press release.
The Report said that indicators for last year pointed to an increasingly objective and unbiased conduct on the part of state prosecutors, judges and the police, which resulted in the rejection of the previous policy of politicised trials.
"While diminishing in impact, ethnic origin continues to be a factor in determining against whom and what crimes are prosecuted, with discrepancies seen in the type of conduct charged and the severity of sentencing," said the press release.
"Continued elimination of unsubstantiated charges against Serbs as well as the initiation of new inquiries into yet un-prosecuted crimes committed by members of the Croatian armed forces would provide steps toward ensuring even-handed accountability," noted the Report.
"More needs to be done to enhance security and support for witnesses, including firm action against those who would attempt to threaten or intimidate witnesses. The Report notes that this finding pertains to the special war crimes courts as well as the local courts, and in particular to cases involving members of the armed forces and other high profile figures," read the press release.
The Mission said corrective measures should be introduced to address the continuing high rate of error by trial courts that had led to reversal of numerous verdicts by the Supreme Court.
The Report noted that "significant steps have been taken toward enhancing inter-state co-operation, primarily by prosecutors," but also suggested that greater political will was needed to increase systematic and institutionalized inter-state judicial co-operation between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia.