Bosnia and Herzegovina

Conference “The role of notaries in preventing money laundering”

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Published: April 14, 2023
Notary Dr. Lovro Tomasić, Federal Chamber of Notaries in a TV interview.
Notary Dr. Lovro Tomasić, Federal Chamber of Notaries in a TV interview.
Bosnia and Herzegovina

The conference on the role of notaries in preventing money laundering and in combating the financing of terrorism, and the relevant cooperation with other relevant stakeholders”, jointly organised by the Chamber of Notaries of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the German Federal Chamber of Notaries (BNotK) and the IRZ which took place in Sarajevo on 28 March, attracted great media attention.

The event took place in the context of various measures that have been implemented to de facto abolish the Latin notary public, which was introduced and implemented with great support from Germany, particularly from the IRZ and the GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit - a development agency), in the larger of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The organisers took this starting point as an opportunity to emphasise that the notary's office not only provides qualified, neutral legal advice and preventive administration of justice in civil law. Due to the examination and reporting obligations in the area of ​​combating money laundering, it also contributes to prevention in a part of criminal law that is important for society as a whole.

The event was opened by Anica Nakić, President of the Chamber of Notaries of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The introductory speeches were given by the BNotK representative for international affairs, notary, Dr. Lovro Tomašić, and the Chairman of the Committee for Professional Development at the Chamber of Notaries of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zdenko Puljić.

This was followed by words of welcome from the President of the International Union of Notaries (UINL), Lionel Galliez, who highlighted the importance of the Latin notariat as a generally recognised and reliable legal institution that contributes in many ways to the benefit of society as a whole.

During the panel discussion that followed, the former Deputy Minister of Justice of the umbrella state of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Head of the Committee of Experts of the Council of Europe on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (Moneyval) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dr. Nezir Pivić, President of the Administrative Committee of the Chamber of Notaries of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Notary Public Sefedin Suljević, Ajla Mešetović, from the State Agency for Investigation and Protection (SIPA) and Dr. Lovro Tomašić explored aspects of the conference theme. The responsible Project Area Manager at the IRZ, Dr. Stefan Pürner moderated the discussion in the local language.

The event was rounded off by numerous questions and contributions from the auditorium.

The event is part of a cooperation between the Chamber of Notaries of the Federation, the BNotK and the IRZ that has existed since the Chamber of Notaries was founded more than 15 years ago. In this context, a separate training course for notaries and employees of notaries' offices on the same topic was held on the same day.

The event attracted huge media attention. 

 

“Family Law Days” – tenth anniversary in Mostar

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Published: February 27, 2023
Minister of Education of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Dr Rašid Hadžović, welcomes participants
Minister of Education of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Dr Rašid Hadžović, welcomes participants
Bosnia and Herzegovina

The tenth international conference “Family Law Days”, organised jointly by IRZ and the law faculty of Djemal-Bjedić University, took place in Mostar on 20-21 October 2022.

The event was attended by participants from several Yugoslav successor states, including EU member states Croatia and Slovenia. Participants also included researchers, teachers and practitioners from the judiciary and the relevant authorities. There were members of philosophical and political science faculties, which emphasised the interdisciplinary character of the event.

Regional, interdisciplinary, sustainable

The regional approach of the conference is particularly important due to the closely intertwined and relatively small successor states of Yugoslavia. Family law issues therefore often have points of contact with neighbouring states. The literature and published case law on the subject are scant.

All the states face a further challenge of adapting their family law to current biomedical and social developments.

In addition, the requirements of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the EU must be observed.

As in previous years, the 30 or so papers presented at the event will be documented in conference proceedings to ensure the results are available to a large audience and are thus particularly sustainable. More than 200 works on family law have been published to date over the ten years in which this series of events have been held.

High interest from the media

The event attracted great interest not only from experts, but also from the general public. Bosnia and Herzegovina's largest online portal reported extensively on the conference and emphasised that the harmonisation of EU legislation in Bosnia and Herzegovina was progressing “at a snail's pace” and that the legislature still had numerous tasks to fulfil.

In organising the conference, IRZ is making an important contribution to reminding us of the need for further action, even when there is little enthusiasm for reform, and the IRZ has also created the framework conditions for the appropriate legislative initiatives.

 

Integrity & independence of the judiciary – foundations for functioning case-law

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Published: October 12, 2022
Bosnia and Herzegovina

A seminar on “Integrity, independence and ethics” was held at the Centre for Judicial and Prosecutorial Training of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo on 6 and 7 September 2022, which was also the first face-to-face event with this partner since the start of the pandemic.

The event was primarily aimed at legal staff, the entry-level position prior to appointment as a judge. Talks were held by Aleksandra Martinović, President of the Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Winfried Schubert, former President of the Constitutional Court for Saxony-Anhalt and the Higher Regional Court of Naumburg

The aim is to improve the reputation of the judiciary

In her talk, President Martinović presented a large number of cases from disciplinary practice and also reached out to the audience – whom she described as the “future of the judiciary in Bosnia and Herzegovina” – to work actively towards improving the reputation of the judiciary. She also pointed out that decisions on promotions to the judicial office that are difficult to comprehend from an objective perspective can only be prevented if the common interests shared by members of the judiciary receive powerful representation.

No space for self-righteousness

Former President Schubert placed the main focus of his talk on critical self-reflection among members of the judiciary. In this context, he emphasised that judicial independence is not a personal privilege afforded to members of the judiciary and is intended instead to guarantee functioning and objective case-law. He also stated plainly that there is no space for self-righteousness among judges in the application of the law – and hence in the search for justice.

Première of the IRZ educational film

The event was brought to a conclusion by the Bosnian-Herzegovinian première of the educational film produced by the IRZ on active procedural management in civil proceedings, which sparked an interesting discussion.