Judges and prosecutors in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at OSCE meeting, learn about videoconferencing to reach remote witnesses

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO / BRČKO DISTRICT, 27 May 2016 – The use of videoconferencing for interviewing witnesses at remote locations was the focus of a two-day peer-to-peer meeting the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina organized for judges and prosecutors who are working on war crimes cases in courts and prosecutors' offices at the entity level and Brčko District.

The meeting was held via simultaneous live videoconferencing between the premises of the District Court of Istočno Sarajevo and the premises of the Basic Court of Brčko District. This enabled entity judges and prosecutors to put the technology to test and to discuss the procedural aspects of war crimes processing.

“More than 30% of the war crimes investigations at the local level involve witnesses that reside outside BiH” said Acting Head of the OSCE’s Rule of Law Section Francesco de Sanctis. “Videoconferencing technology will speed up the process of war crimes processing and allow for the interviewing of those individuals who are unable to travel or, due to trauma, feel more comfortable testifying by a video link.”

Direct interviewing of witnesses via video is far more cost-effective than the usual practice of acquiring statements from unavailable witnesses.

Prosecutor at the Central Bosnia Canton Prosecutor’s Office Ahmed Mesic, said: “The use of a video link during the investigation phase is, economically, the best method. The prosecutor offices are not exposed to additional costs such as travel, lodging and translation, and achieve almost identical conditions as if the interview is done in office.”

Deputy Director of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH Secretariat Hajro Poskovic, said: “Our strategic goal is to advance the effectiveness of war crimes processing before the judicial institutions in BiH. The Secretariat welcomes all efforts that aim to better acquaint judges and prosecutors with possibilities of witness interviewing through a video link.”

The peer-to-peer meeting was organized in co-operation with the Supervisory Body for the National Strategy for War Crimes Processing Implementation and the Secretariat of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH, and as a part of two OSCE’s projects: The EU funded War Crimes Monitoring Project, and the War Crimes Capacity-Building Project that is supported by the Embassies of Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States.