Minister of Justice of BiH Bariša Čolak had a meeting in Banja Luka with Minister of Justice of RS Gorana Zlatković. The main subject of the discussion was the resolution of issues of determining and compensating for damages suffered during the BiH civil war, because of which numerous proceedings are taking place before the courts.
It was concluded that the law governing resolution of war-related damages claims before the judiciary of the Entities should be the same regardless whether it is a model law or the Entity laws in a single text. Minister Čolak emphasized that he expects that the resolution of the issue of damages will be found soon, and that it is important for it to be the same for both Entities, as well as for Brčko District. “It is possible to find resolution for this issue at the Entity level, but it is also important for a law to be the same [in meaning and application], and there is a possibility to find a solution at the BiH level. We will probably know in which direction the solution will go in the next several weeks,” said Minister Čolak.
Activities of the Ministry aimed at drafting and harmonizing the new Strategy of the reform of the judicial sector in BiH for the period 2014-2018 were discussed at the meeting. When discussing the Strategy for the reform of the judiciary in BiH, Minister Čolak emphasized that a lot of work needs to be done with respect to its definition, but also with respect to its implementation in the legislature. Minister Zlatković emphasized that with respect to a new Strategy for the reform of the judiciary in BiH, the orientation should be on the effects of the current Strategy, expressing the desire for a resolution of unrealized items from the existing [strategic document] in a new strategic document.
