Interdisciplinary exchange on family law in Mostar

Prof. Dr. Slađana Aras Kramar from the Zagreb Faculty of Law, during her presentation.
Prof. Dr. Slađana Aras Kramar from the Zagreb Faculty of Law, during her presentation.
Bosnia and Herzegovina

The 11th International Conference “Family law days” was held in 21-22 September 2023 in Mostar, attended by researchers, judges and employees of organisations in the family welfare sector.

This event was jointly organised by the local Faculty of Law “Džemal Bijedić” and the IRZ and was opened by the Dean of the Faculty of Law Prof. Dr. Amra Jašarbegović, the Vice Rector of the University “Džemal Bijedić” Prof. Dr. Armina Hubana, the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton Prof. Dr. Rašid Hadžović, and the State Secretary to the Minister of Science and Technology of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Jasmin Branković, and Dr. Stefan Pürner as the IRZ responsible project area manager.

This was followed by two days with approx. 20 presentations and intensive exchanges of opinions and ideas, for example on the topics of divorce proceedings, the right to artificial insemination?, the legal status of legitimate and illegitimate children, children in foster families and mediation in family law. Numerous practitioners and researchers from other disciplines also attended the conference, which provided an interdisciplinary platform for the exchange of research and practice.

Similar to previous years, a transcript of the conference was produced to ensure the sustainability of the event.

The publication is also available online: https://pf.unmo.ba/media/ogekxcn0/zbornik-radova-dani-porodi%C4%8Dnog-prava-br-10-2022.pdf.

You can also read the report from FENA, the government-owned national news agency of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina here: https://mostarski.ba/odrzan-11-medjunarodni-naucni-skup-dani-porodicnog-prava/

Anti-discrimination training for prospective judges

Participants in the group work.
Participants in the group work.
Bosnia and Herzegovina

The IRZ and the “Centre for the Education of Judges and Public Prosecutors of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina” organised a hybrid training course for prospective judges on the “European Convention on Human Rights and Equal Rights (ECHR)” on 5-6 June 2023.

The speakers presented Art. 5 and 6 and Art. 14 of the ECHR in accordance with the curriculum of the Centre.

Lawyer Holger Hembach who, after several years working in human rights for the OSCE in South East Europe and Africa now represents clients before the ECHR and is also the author of several publications on the subject, presented practical cases that the participants worked on in groups. Important aspects here were the potential for judges to influence the design of procedures that is fit for purpose, the active and transparent conduct of negotiations and the substantiated justification of decisions.

Prof. Dr Zlatan Meskić, who is currently lecturing in Riyadh, presented several cases of discrimination, with a focus on gender discrimination. In addition to the main concept of case law of the European Court in Strasbourg, he presented the structural schemes used by the ECHR when examining cases.

Conference “The role of notaries in preventing money laundering”

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