Trial monitoring

Launched in 2003, following comprehensive reform of the BiH criminal justice system, the Mission’s extensive trial monitoring programme serves as the basis of its work on rule of law issues. Deployed as a diagnostic tool to identify systemic issues in the criminal justice system, the Mission’s trial monitoring activities adhere strictly to the essential principles of objectivity, non-intervention, impartiality, and confidentiality.

Since its inception, the Mission’s trial monitoring programme has monitored approximately 3,500 cases following the confirmation of an indictment, including over 23,000 hearings across all courts in BiH, and has analysed countless legal acts, including indictments and verdicts. The Mission complements its trial monitoring with monitoring of the justice sector as a whole, focusing on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH and independent supervisory bodies of police systems, as well as the implementation of proposed reforms addressing law enforcement, prosecutor’s offices and courts. 

Building on its foundational trial monitoring methodology, the Mission has developed tailored tools to monitor institutional responses to hate crimes, trafficking in human beings and domestic violence. More recently, the Mission has increased its efforts to identify bias in judicial proceedings, including gender bias. 

In addition to releasing certain monitoring findings to the public through its reporting, the Mission uses this data to inform its full scope of rule of law activities.