The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recognize the necessity of providing the system of justice in BiH with the tools and capacity to ensure international standards in the prosecution and trial of war crimes cases. The funding should support the Registry Section I for War Crimes and Section II for Organised Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption of the Court of Bosnia Herzegovina and the Special Departments for War Crimes and Organised Crime of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia Herzegovina. The Registry is established on the basis of international agreements and domestic legislation and the funding should be used according to the mandate of the registry as defined in the 2004 Implementation Plan and as approved by the Peace Implementation Council.
The mandate of the international assistance to BiH in this field is to provide the justice sector with the material, professional and sustainable capacity to investigate and prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide arising out of the conflict between 1991 and 1995 and organised crime, economic crime and corruption – and to ensure that the legal processes established within the Justice sector meet national and international standards of fair trial and due process of law. The purpose of the project is to introduce international professional support to the management and litigation functions of the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, gradually phasing out the international component and continuous building domestic judicial capacity. The ultimate absorption of the War Crime and Organised Crime Chamber’s capacity into the justice system of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its national funding system is essential to the mandate of the project.