Regional meeting of legal practitioners dealing with war crimes held in Belgrade

The OSCE Mission to Serbia, hosted a meeting of judicial practitioners from the region on co-operation in war crimes proceedings. The participants included judges, prosecutors and defence councils from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia.

The regional gathering was convened and organised by the OSCE Mission to Serbia, within the multi-partner project Facility supporting the Strengthening Rule of Law in the Republic of Serbia, financed by the EU, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and development (BMZ) and Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC), whose implementation is in charge of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, ADA, CPMA and OSCE Mission to Serbia.

The meeting was organised in Belgrade on 24 November 2022. There were 40 participants including representatives of Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Public Prosecutor's Office of the Republika Srpska BiH, District Court in Banja Luka, District Prosecutor's Office in Banja Luka, Basic Court of Brčko District, Prosecutor's Office of Brčko District, BiH County State Attorney's Offices in Zagreb and Osijek, Supreme Court of Cassation of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade’s Court of Appeals and the High Court, the War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office, defence councils from all over the region as well as staff from the EU Delegation in Serbia and from the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The meeting discussed sentencing policy in war crimes proceedings.

The President of High Court and the judge of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Mr. Aleksandar Stepanović, the War Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia, Ms. Snežana Stanojković, the vice president of the Bar Association of Serbia and defence attorney, Mr. Veljko Delibašić, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Ambassador Jan Braathu, and the Deputy Ambassador of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Ms. Plamena Halacheva welcomed the participants during the opening remarks.

Continuous regional judicial co-operation remains a key tool for successful war crimes prosecution, reconciliation and regional stability. The OSCE Mission to Serbia remains committed to assisting Serbia in combatting impunity through war crimes prosecution and adjudication, transitional justice awareness raising and reconciliation. The next regional meeting gathering of judicial practitioners is expected to take place in 2023.