News

Position and role of court bailiffs in Bosnia & Herzegovina discussed in Banja Luka (September 2010)

For the first time ever, the position and role of court bailiffs in Bosnia & Herzegovina was discussed during a national conference conducted on 28 September 2010 in Hotel Bosna in Banja Luka. Since 2008, a working group for enforcement under the auspices of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) of Bosnia & Herzegovina, has been developing proposals aimed at making enforcement proceedings in Bosnia & Herzegovina more effective and efficient.

The working group also developed some recommendations for the strengthening of the role and status of court bailiffs in Bosnia & Herzegovina. These recommendations are partly based on Recommendation 17 (2003) of the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe On Enforcement and the 2009 Recommendations for a Better Implementation of the Recommendation 17 (2003).

Over 140 representatives (often (assistant-) ministers) of cantonal level, entity level and  state level Ministries of Justice, various court presidents, experienced bailiffs, the directors of the Judicial Training Centers and high-level representatives of the HJPC discussed these recommendations and at the end of the day agreed on a number of conclusions. The HJPC and BERP facilitated the conference.

The conference was opened by President Mr. Milorad Novković of the HJPC, Mrs. Milana Popadić (Assistant Minister of Justice of the State Ministry of Justice), BERP director Mr. Eric Vincken, Mr. Hidajet Halilović (Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice of the Federation) and Mr. Nikola Kovačević (Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice of the Respublika Srpska). Besides a discussion on the various proposals of the working group, various court presidents and court bailiffs also shared best practices from the field.

For BERP, which had suggested this a number of times, it was encouraging to hear that Mr. Mujo Dulandić, chief court bailiff of the Sarajevo Municipal Court (biggest court in Bosnia & Herzegovina in terms of case-load), informed the audience that in the beginning of October, he would register a professional association of court bailiffs, which will be open for all court bailiffs in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Let’s hope that both the outcomes of the conference as well as the new association will contribute to the strengthening of the profession of court bailiffs in all parts of Bosnia & Herzegovina. 

<< Back