War Crimes Trials Before the Domestic Courts of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Progress and Obstacles

With the establishment of the War Crimes Chamber of the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in January 2005, it is imperative to draw attention to the efforts of the BiH authorities in relation to war crimes cases proceeding before the cantonal and district courts. Although the precise number to be tried by the new state-level Chamber, which will include both national and international judges and prosecutors, has yet to be determined, it has been confirmed by the BiH Prosecutor’s Office that the Chamber will only hear the most serious, “highly sensitive” cases, as it will have “neither the resources nor the time to try all war crimes cases”. Due to the quantity of remaining cases to be tried, the majority will continue to be dealt with by the domestic courts under the jurisdiction of the Entities – district courts in the Republika Srpska (RS) and cantonal courts in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) - and the Basic Court of Brčko District. Through this Report, the Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (MBiH) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) aims to draw attention to the number, nature and importance of war crimes proceedings before the domestic courts of BiH, providing the most detailed analysis to date of their progress and the obstacles they continue to face.