The European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ), in close cooperation with the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HJPC BiH), co-organised a regional workshop entitled “Advancing the HJPC BiH regional ICT (information and communication technologies) Hub initiative through CEPEJ Cyberjustice tools and good practices” on 16 and 17 April on Jahorina (Sarajevo), Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The “ICT Hub Sarajevo” initiative seeks to create a network of ICT professionals across the Western Balkans region to improve judicial efficiency through a collaborative approach, exchange of good practices, and the development of state-of-the-art solutions. The workshop gathered persons in charge of the new technologies and the justice systems from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, with the presence of the CEPEJ President Francesco Depasquale, and other members of the CEPEJ Secretariat, in particular in charge of cyberjustice.

Participants of this event discussed the current ICT landscape in the Western Balkans judiciaries and in selected European Union countries. Relevant CEPEJ cyberjustice tools were presented, such as Resource centre on cyberjustice and AI, guidelines on videoconferencing in judicial proceedings, guidelines on e-filing. The participants were encouraged to get familiar with these tools and to refer to them when addressing cyberjustice issues in their respective judiciaries. Benefits of using ICT tools for collecting judicial data and generating comprehensive reports from judiciary were also presented.

This activity mirrors the efforts of the CEPEJ Programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina to boost the efficiency and quality of justice through advancing usage of cyberjustice tools in judiciary, paving the way for enhanced efficiency and accessibility of justice across the Western Balkans.                                                         

This activity was jointly organised by CEPEJ actions in the region, namely , the regional action “Towards a better evaluation of the results of judicial reforms in the Western Balkans – Dashboard Western Balkans“ and the action “Strengthening the efficiency and quality of justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiHSEJ)”, in the framework of the European Union/Council of Europe joint programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye.

 

*This designation is without prejudice to position on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.