Ethics and Integrity Key for Independent Judiciary in BiH

The training for newly appointed members of the Disciplinary Commissions of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH (HJPC BiH) took place this week in Sarajevo, with support and facilitation of USAID Judiciary Against Corruption Activity (JACA). The training agenda included topics on ethics, integrity, and conflict of interest in connection with disciplinary offenses. The staff of the HJCP’s Integrity Department was also part of this training which helped increase their understanding of the situations in which various breaches of the Code of Ethics for judges and Code of Ethics for prosecutors could occur as elements of committing the disciplinary offenses.

At the beginning of the training, Jasna Kilalić, Deputy Director of the Democracy Office at the USAID Mission in BiH, addressed the newly appointed members of the HJPC BiH disciplinary commissions and emphasized the importance of ethics, integrity, prevention of conflicts of interest and transparency of disciplinary procedures for preserving professional and independent judiciary in BiH.

‘Prosecutors and judges in BiH should be leaders in raising the level of ethics and integrity in the judiciary’, Jasna Kilalic, Deputy Director, Democracy Offie, USAID Mission in BiH

In addition to training, JACA supported the HJPC in developing an Integrity Communication Plan which is designed to educate stakeholders on ethics, conflicts of interest, asset declaration, and other integrity standards and guidelines, thus increasing the likelihood that ethical and related conflicts will be detected and reported. The plan outlines communication channels, tools, and content for several target groups in the area of ethics, integrity, and conflict of interest. It will become a part of the overarching Communication Strategy for the BiH judiciary that HJPC is drafting with JACA support.

Photo: USAID BiH Facebook page