LAW
ON PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE OF BRCKO DISTRICT OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
I GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
(Contents of the Law)
This Law shall regulate general competences and authorizations of the Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina Prosecutor’s Office (hereinafter: the District Prosecutor’s Office), duties and responsibilities of the prosecutors, servants and employees, internal organization and operations, transparency of work, financing and other issues of importance to the functioning of the District Prosecutor’s Office.
Article 2
(General Jurisdiction)
The District Prosecutor’s Office shall be an independent body which, within the Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the Brcko District) shall undertake stipulated measures and activities related to detecting and prosecution of perpetrators of crimes and financial offences and shall perform other duties stipulated by the law.
Article 3
(Independence)
(1) The District Prosecutor’s Office in its work shall be independent from the legislative and executive authorities as well as from the Police and Courts.
(2) No state body, institution or individual shall have a right to order, direct or in any way influence the Prosecutor’s Office in performing its duties.
Article 4
(Protection of Rights)
The District Prosecutor’s Office shall, within its jurisdiction, protect exercising of human rights and civil freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Statute of Brcko District as well as exercising of rights and interests of legal persons stipulated by the law and shall ensure compliance with the Statute and legality.
Article 5
(Basis for Proceedings)
The District Prosecutor’s Office shall perform its duties in accordance with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Statute of Brcko District based on the laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Brcko District.
Article 6
(Opinion About Laws)
The District Prosecutor’s Office, through the Judicial Commission of Brcko District of BiH, shall be entitled to provide its opinion to the Government and Assembly of Brcko District about all the laws which relate to performance of its duties as well as to initiate amendments to the laws of Brcko District in the aforementioned terms.
Article 7
(Assessment of Compliance with the Statute)
If the application of a certain law of Brcko District affects the work of the District Prosecutor’s Office or is important for performance of its duties, the District Prosecutor’s Office may, in accordance with Article 40 of the Statute of Brcko District, initiate proceedings before the Courts of Brcko District in order to assess harmonization of such laws with the Statute of Brcko District.
Article 8
(Foundation)
Foundation, organization, jurisdiction and abolishment of the District Prosecutor’s office shall be exclusively determined by the law.
Article 9
(Name and Seat)
(1) The full name of the Prosecutor’s Office shall be: Prosecutor’s Office of Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(2) The seat of the District Prosecutor’s Office shall be in Brcko.
Article 10
(Seal of the Prosecutor’s Office)
The District Prosecutor’s Office shall have a seal in accordance with the appropriate law of Brcko District which shall contain the following text: “Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brcko District of BiH, Prosecutor’s Office of Brcko District of BiH”, in round print in Latin and Cyrillic alphabets and the coat of arms of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be imprinted in the centre of the seal.
II GENERAL JURISDICTION AND AUTHORIZATIONS
Article 11
(Territorial Jurisdiction)
(1) The District Prosecutor’s Office shall be founded and established with the jurisdiction over the territory of Brcko District.
(2) In performance of its duties, the District Prosecutor’s Office shall participate in the proceedings before the Appellate Court of Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina and before the Basic Court of Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Article 12
(Jurisdiction over Criminal Proceedings)
In performance of its basic duty of detecting and prosecuting perpetrators of crimes, the District Prosecutor’s Office shall conduct investigation, issue and represent indictments, submit legal remedies and perform other duties authorized by law.
Article 13
(Cooperation with Public Attorney’s Office)
If a crime has jeopardized or damaged property or property interests of Brcko District, the District Prosecutor’s Office shall inform about it the Public Attorney’s Office of Brcko District of BiH immediately upon the confirmation of indictment or other decision pursuant to which the investigation shall be concluded.
Article 14
(Prosecutorial Function)
(1) The function of the District Prosecutor’s Office shall be exercised i.e. performed by the Chief Prosecutor of the District Prosecutor’s Office (hereinafter: the Chief Prosecutor), Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the District Prosecutor’s Office (hereinafter: the Deputy Chief Prosecutor) and Prosecutors of the District Prosecutor’s Office (hereinafter: the Prosecutors).
(2) The Chief Prosecutor, Deputy Chief Prosecutor and the Prosecutors shall be elected, appointed and dismissed by the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Article 15
(Application of other Laws)
Requirements and mandate, appointment of the Chief Prosecutor, Deputy Chief Prosecutor and the Prosecutors, their disciplinary accountability, temporary suspension from duties until completion of criminal proceedings, disciplinary proceedings or dismissal proceedings, incompatibility of Prosecutorial duties with other duties, immunity in performance of duty, termination of performance of duty, determination of criteria for performance evaluation, determination of number of Prosecutors and Deputy Chief Prosecutors shall be stipulated by the Law on High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (“The Official Gazette of BiH”, No: 25/04).
Article 16
(The Prosecutor’s Office Collegiate Body)
When the law and internal enactment of the District Prosecutor’s Office stipulates that certain duties shall be carried out by the District Prosecutor’s Office Collegiate Body, then that Collegiate Body shall be composed of the Chief Prosecutor, Deputy Chief Prosecutor and the Prosecutors.
Article 17
(Accountability for Damage)
(1) The Brcko District shall be accountable for the damage that the Chief Prosecutor, Deputy Chief Prosecutor or a Prosecutor caused to a physical or legal person by their illegal and incorrect actions during performance of their official duties.
(2) Brcko District may request the Chief Prosecutor, Deputy Chief Prosecutor or a Prosecutor to compensate for the paid damage only if the damage has been caused purposely or due to utter negligence.
(3) Reimbursement request for the compensation referred to in Paragraph 2 of this Article shall reach the statute of limitations within six months from the date when the compensation amount is paid.
III DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PROSECUTORS AND STAFF
Article 18
(Personal Characteristics of the Prosecutors)
(1) The Chief Prosecutor shall uphold integrity, independence and professionalism of the District Prosecutor’s Office.
(2) In all official and private activities the prosecutorial function holders shall abide by and support the rule of law, prevent suspicion of their inappropriate behavior and proceed in a way that ensures the confidence of public in the integrity, independence and professionalism of the District Prosecutor’s Office.
Article 19
(Financial Disclosure)
The Chief Prosecutor, Deputy Chief Prosecutor and Prosecutors shall submit to the District Assembly their annual financial disclosure statements on their total incomes, sources, assets and liabilities as well as on incomes, sources, assets and liabilities of the close family members up to the first degree and the manner in which they acquired possession of them.
Article 20
(Conflict of Interest)
(1) The Prosecutors may form professional association.
(2) The Prosecutors may not be members of political parties or support political candidates or platforms of political parties or in any way be involved in a political activity.
(3) The Prosecutors may not perform any other duty in public or private sector or do any other job during their term of office.
Article 21
(Communication with Court and Clients)
All employees of the District Prosecutor’s Office shall display dignity, kindness and patients in communication with Court, clients, witnesses and lawyers as well as with all other persons with whom they communicate in performance of their duties.
Article 22
(Confidentiality of Work)
(1) All employees of the District Prosecutor’s Office shall keep as official secret all pieces of information they collected in performance of their duties except for the information that has been presented during public hearing or other hearing which is public in accordance with the law.
(2) The obligation of keeping the official secret shall last even after their termination of work in the District Prosecutor’s Office.
Article 23
(Accountability for Supervision)
The Chief Prosecutor shall undertake appropriate measures in order to ensure that all employees of the District Prosecutor’s Office respect the rule of law standards, diligence and professionalism in performance of their official duties.
IV INTERNAL ORGANIZATION AND OPERATONS
Article 24
(Management and Jurisdiction of Prosecutors)
(1) The District Prosecutor’s Office as an institution shall be represented by and its operations shall be managed by the Chief Prosecutor.
(2) The Deputy Chief Prosecutor and Prosecutors shall perform duties and tasks entrusted to them by the Chief Prosecutor and shall report to the Chief Prosecutor regarding performance of those duties.
(3) The Deputy Chief Prosecutor and Prosecutors in individual cases they act upon, may conduct every activity in proceedings before the Court, other bodies or institutions for which the Chief Prosecutor is authorized by law.
Article 25
(Management in Absence of the Chief Prosecutor)
(1) When the Chief Prosecutor is absent or unable to manage the work of the District Prosecutor’s Office, he/she shall be deputized by the Deputy Chief Prosecutor.
(2) If the Chief Prosecutor and Deputy Chief Prosecutor are absent or unable to manage the work of the District Prosecutor’s Office at the same time they shall be deputized by the Prosecutor who has the longest total working experience as a holder of any judicial function.
(3) If the Chief Prosecutor and the Deputy Chief Prosecutor are absent or unable to perform their duties at the same time in the period exceeding six months, the High Judicial Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall appoint acting Chief Prosecutor.
Article 26
(Binding Instructions)
(1) The Chief Prosecutor shall have the right and duty to issue binding instructions to the Deputy Chief Prosecutor and the Prosecutors with regard to their work and in addition to that, he/she may as well do the following:
- take over all or certain activities within the scope of work of the Deputy Chief Prosecutor or the Prosecutors,
- authorize the Deputy Chief Prosecutor or a Prosecutor to be in charge of certain cases within the scope of work of another Prosecutor,
- authorize a Prosecutor to be in charge of individual cases within the scope of work of the Deputy Chief Prosecutor,
- authorize Deputy Chief Prosecutor or a Prosecutor to undertake certain activities within the scope of work of another Prosecutor,
- authorize a Prosecutor to undertake certain activities within the scope of work of the Deputy Chief Prosecutor.
Article 27
(General and Individual Instructions)
(1) In terms of this Law, binding instructions for the work of the Deputy Chief Prosecutor and Prosecutors shall entail instructions of general nature relating to the work and activities as well as instructions for undertaking specific measures and activities in certain cases.
(2) The Chief Prosecutor shall issue compulsory work instructions of general nature in accordance with the Book of Rules on Internal Organization and Operations and the Book of Rules on Labor.
Article 28
(Judicial Clerks and Interns)
The District Prosecutor’s Office shall employ a certain number of judicial clerks and interns in order to assist the prosecutorial function holders in the performance of legal duties.
Article 29
(Authorizations of Judicial Clerks)
(1) A law university graduate who passed the bar exam may serve as a judicial clerk in the District Prosecutor’s Office.
(2) The Judicial Clerk shall conduct legal research, draft proposal of decisions, resolutions, orders and letters as well as other similar duties and tasks under supervision and instructions of the Chief Prosecutor, Deputy Chief Prosecutor or Prosecutors.
Article 30
(Internship)
(1) A citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina who holds a law degree and who meets general requirements for employment in the state bodies may be employed as an intern.
(2) Interns shall be gradually tasked with various types of duties in order for them to acquire necessary practical experience in all fields of work in the District Prosecutor’s Office both in prosecutorial and administrative positions.
(3) Interns shall be employed for a definite period of time which cannot exceed two years until they meet requirements for taking the bar exam.
(4) Interns may, at a certain point of their service, be sent to work in the Basic or Appellate Court of Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(5) The structure of the interns’ training, time they shall spend in individual institutions of the Brcko District Judiciary, duties they shall be performing during their internship, monitoring of their training and similar provisions on internship shall be regulated by the Judicial Commission of Brcko District of BiH in a separate Book of Rules.
Article 31
(Book of Rules on Internal Organization)
(1) More detailed provisions on internal organization and work of the District Prosecutor’s Office, number of servants and employees required for performance of everyday duties and criteria for performance of those duties shall be regulated in the Book of Rules on Internal Organization and Operations.
(2) The Book of Rules referred to in Paragraph 1 of this Article shall be passed by the Chief Prosecutor with obtained positive opinion of the Judicial Commission of Brcko District of BiH and an approval of the Book of Rules by the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH.
Article 32
(Appropriate Application of Other Regulations)
(1) Appropriate regulations which are applied in Brcko District and which relate to management and responsibility of officials shall accordingly be applied also to the Chief Prosecutor, Deputy Chief Prosecutor and the Prosecutors if not otherwise stipulated by this Law.
(2) Appropriate regulations applied in Brcko District relating to employment in administrative bodies and employees’ rights and duties shall accordingly be applied also to the employment in the District Prosecutor’s Office if not otherwise stipulated by this or other separate law.
Article 33
(Records)
(1) The District Prosecutor’s Office shall keep records of all cases it receives and in which acts upon.
(2) When a case is received by the District Prosecutor’s Office it is entered in an appropriate Registry – log book which shall, inter alia, contain minimum the following data, if they are known:
- forename and surname of a person against whom the criminal charges have been filed
- citizenship of the accused
- address of the accused
- date of commission of a crime
- legal classification of a crime
- respective provisions of the Criminal Code
- Prosecutor’s Office document reference number
- date of registration in the Prosecutor’s Office.
(3) The Chief Prosecutor shall more thoroughly determine administrative details on keeping the Registry – log book.
V TRANSPARENCY OF WORK
Article 34
(Reporting to the Assembly of Brcko District)
(1) In performance of its duties the District Prosecutor’s Office shall have the right and duty, at its own initiative or at the request, to report to the Assembly of Brcko District of BiH, on its work as well as on the application of the Criminal Code in Brcko District, crime rates and trends and progress in resolving cases.
(2) The Assembly of Brcko District of BiH shall acknowledge the presented report with possible suggestions and recommendations of general nature for improvement of work of the District Prosecutor’s Office.
Article 35
(Informing the Public)
(1) The District’s Prosecutor’s Office may inform the public on the crime rates in Brcko District as well as on other occurrences and problems of general public importance through media or in other appropriate manner.
(2) Within the scope of work determined by the law and pursuant to the interests of the proceedings, the District Prosecutor’s Office may inform the public on individual cases in which it acts upon, if such information is of interest to the public and under the condition it is governed by the interests of righteousness, abiding by the presumption of innocence and limitations to providing such information stipulated by the law, taking into consideration the standards stipulated in Article 6 (1) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
Article 36
(Contents of the Work Report)
As a part of the annual work report, at the end of each calendar year, the Chief Prosecutor shall draft a statistic overview of the District Prosecutor’s Office work which shall obligatorily contain but shall not be limited to:
1. number of received cases during the reporting period,
2. pending and resolved cases according to the types of registries being kept,
3. manners of conclusion of cases
4. the structure of cases in which the verdict was reached by types of Court Rulings
5. assessment of the security situation based on the crime rates in Brcko District.
Article 37
(Authorizations for Informing the Public)
(1) The Chief Prosecutor, and in his/her absence a person that is deputizing for him/her pursuant to this Law, shall provide information on activities of the District Prosecutor’s Office to the public.
(2) Every physical and legal person shall be entitled to have access to information under District Prosecutor’s Office control and the District’s Prosecutor’s Office shall have an obligation to publish such information in accordance with the procedure and with possible limitations as stipulated by the separate Law on Freedom of Access to Information.
VI FINANCING
Article 38
(Resources)
(1) Brcko District shall to provide necessary financial and every other support in order to ensure undisturbed and proper functioning of the District Prosecutor’s Office.
(2) The District Prosecutor’s Office shall have clearly earmarked and presented share within the budget of the Brcko District.
Article 39
(Preparation and Execution of the Prosecutor’s Office Budget)
(1) In the prescribed procedure for the budget adoption, the Chief Prosecutor shall draft an initial proposal of the budget of the District Prosecutor’s office which shall then be submitted to the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH for their information and possible opinions and recommendations as well as to the Judicial Commission of Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the establishment of final proposal of the budget for the District Prosecutor’s Office.
(2) The Chief Prosecutor shall be entitled to attend sessions of the Brcko District of BiH Assembly and its respective bodies (boards, committees etc.) and represent the proposed budget whenever there is a discussion and decision-making on budgetary issues relating to the District Prosecutor’s Office.
(3) The Chief Prosecutor shall be competent and responsible for budget execution.
Article 40
(Salary and Other Incomes of the Prosecutor)
(1) The Chief Prosecutor, Deputy Chief Prosecutor and the Prosecutors shall be entitled to salary which corresponds to the prosecutorial position to which they have been selected, as well as to other compensations and personal incomes pursuant to a separate law.
(2) The Chief Prosecutor, Deputy Chief Prosecutor and Prosecutors shall be entitled to pension, invalid and health insurance and rights stemming from them according to the general rules and the right to a paid vacation and absence under the same terms as those for all employees in Brcko District pursuant to a separate law.
Article 41
(Ban on Reduction of Compensations)
Salaries, benefits and other compensations of the Chief Prosecutor, Deputy Chief Prosecutor and Prosecutors cannot be reduced during their term.
VI TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 42
(Change and Interpretation of Terms)
Duties, rights and obligations defined by the previous law for the Public Prosecutor, Principal Deputy Public Prosecutor and Deputy Public Prosecutors, pursuant to the change in terminology stemming from this Law shall constitute duties, rights and obligations of the Chief Prosecutor, Deputy Chief Prosecutor and the Prosecutors.
Article 43
(Probationary Appointment)
The Prosecutors who were, in accordance with the previously effective Law, appointed as Deputy Prosecutors for probationary period of 1 year, upon this law enters into force shall be considered permanently appointed i.e. appointed for indefinite term.
Article 44
(Bylaws)
The bylaws required for implementation of this Law shall be passed or the currently existing ones harmonized with this law by the Judicial Commission of Brcko District of BiH or the Chief Prosecutor within six months from the date this Law enters into force and until that time the currently effective enactments shall be applied provided they are not contrary to this Law.
Article 45
(Cessation of the Previously Effective Law)
Upon this law enters into force, the Law on Prosecutor’s Office of Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina (“The Official Gazette of Brcko District of BiH”, No. 4/00, 1/01 and 5/01) shall cease to apply.
Article 46
(Publishing and Entering Into Force)
This law shall enter into force and shall be applied on the eighth day from the date of its publishing in the “Official Gazette of Brcko District of BiH”.
