A TAIEX seminar held last week focused on the issue of conflicts of interest within judicial institutions. According to an EU Delegation press release, participants concluded that the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH should maintain its current rule book on conflicts of interest, which the HJPC adopted in May 2014, and should be responsible for setting standards for other judicial institutions as well.
The EU member states’ experts from Belgium, Germany, Italy and Croatia, who participated at the seminar, observed that the current mechanism for prevention and resolving conflict of interest largely corresponds to the status and competences of the HJPC, which enjoys a significant level of institutional independence, much higher than in most EU member states, particularly when it comes to the central role of this institution in managing the entry into judicial careers of both judges and prosecutors. Consequently, the HJPC requires stronger rules on integrity and accountability of its members. A representative from the European Commission services reiterated full EU support to the integrity of the HJPC and its role in entrenchment of the rule of law in the country and emphasised that the HJPC holds a key responsibility in the consolidation of professionalism and accountability throughout the judiciary in BiH. For this reason the matter of conflict of interest should be disciplined with clear parameters, in order that the regulating institution appears to be above any suspicion of possible clientelism.
