Court Reforms Benefit Citizens, Attract Investors
When Zana Perla went to the Sarajevo Municipal Court to check on the status of her court case, she gave the clerk her case number and was finished in just a few minutes. “It was fast and efficient,” she says. “Now I have an easy way to track my documents and case progress whenever I need to.”
 |
| Zana Perla (l) checks on the status of her case in Sarajevo’s Municipal Court |
Delays and backlogs have plagued BiH’s courts for years. But recent court administration reforms have dramatically improved the efficiency and transparency of the courts. For example, USAID’s Fostering an Investment and Lender-friendly Environment (FILE) project developed a computerized Case Management System (CMS) which assigns each case a unique number that ties together all related documentation in a central database. Case documents used to be filed under different numbers in different locations making reviews extremely time-consuming for judges. The new system allows court staffers and judges to have immediate access to all information related to a case with the touch of a finger. FILE worked closely with court staff in six pilot courts to transfer more than 90,000 cases into the CMS database.
FILE recently completed, but USAID’s Justice Sector Development Project (JSDP) remains active and works along the same lines. JSDP has introduced the case numbering system to an additional 11 model courts throughout BiH. It is also helping with backlog reduction plans, remodeling court premises to be more customer-friendly and introducing a color-coded filing system for paper files. The results have been extraordinary. The Banja Luka District Court has reduced its backlog of cases by 45% after only one year. Zenica’s Municipal Court has noted a 34% reduction in the time it takes to process a case. BiH’s High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) has endorsed the reforms and started introducing them to other courts throughout the country.
Citizens are benefiting from reforms while investors take note that the administrative costs and risks of doing business in BiH have diminished.
Back to Top ^ |
