Only war crimes suspects benefit from the lack of an agreement, Mirel told reporters after a two-day plenary session of the "Structured Dialogue on Justice between the European Union and Bosnia and Herzegovina" in the southern Bosnian city of Mostar.
We regret the failure to sign a protocol on the prosecution of war crimes between Serbia and BiH, such as exists between Zagreb and Belgrade and based on which the cooperation is to the complete satisfaction of both countries. That's important to avoid war crimes suspects going unpunished because there are no agreements on their extradition, said Mirel.
He said it would be much better for the Bosnian victims if those responsible for war crimes were prosecuted in Zagreb or Belgrade than not tried at all.
The Bosniak and the Croat member of the Bosnian state Presidency and the heads of the State Court and the State Prosecutor's Office earlier this year objected to the signing of a protocol on the prosecution of war crimes.
The European Commission promised Bosnia money to step up the prosecution of people responsible for war crimes during last week's talks between seven Bosnian politicians and Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele. The Bosnian authorities should agree on the allocation of the money from the IPA funds by mid-July.
According to Mirel, that would step up the referral of war crimes cases from the State Court to lower courts. Funds would be set aside for hiring new judges and prosecutors as well as for witness support and protection programmes.
At the Mostar meeting, representatives of the state and entity governments reached a consensus on establishing a court of appeals that would rule on sentences handed down by the State Court. Mirel said such a decision was in accordance with the recommendations of the Venice Commission.