The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HJPC BiH), supported by the EU4Justice project and the EU-funded initiative “Justice in Focus”, has introduced a database compiling disciplinary decisions made in cases involving judicial office holders. The database includes 475 anonymised rulings from 2009 to date, enabling the public to search them using various filters.
According to Mirza Hadžiomerović, Head of the HJPC Disciplinary Procedures and Ethics of Judicial Office Holders Department, users can filter decisions based on the individual’s role, such as judge, prosecutor, or head of a judicial body, the date the decision was issued, its publication date, and the specific disciplinary violation for which they were found accountable.
Sanin Bogunić, President of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HJPC BiH), noted that between 30 and 35 disciplinary cases are opened annually against judicial office holders, with judges most frequently involved, largely due to their greater numbers in the judiciary.
According to the HJPC, the purpose of the newly introduced database is to enhance the efficiency of disciplinary procedures, promote consistency in disciplinary actions, and bolster public confidence by making rulings publicly accessible.
The database does not disclose the full names of judges or prosecutors undergoing disciplinary processes. However, this information is available in a separate, regularly updated database launched in 2019 by the Centre for Investigative Reporting (CIN). Journalists gathered data from disciplinary decisions and, using initials alongside investigative methods, identified the individuals involved and the institutions where misconduct occurred.
A CIN analysis reveals that, over the past 16 years, the most common sanction imposed on judges, prosecutors, and legal associates has been a reduction in salary.
