Year VI – No. 35 Wednesday 4 December 2002
THE COURT OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Pursuant to Article 22, Item 2b, of the court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette BiH, no. 29/00) and Item 4 of the Decision on the Appointment of Judges and the Establishment of the court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, (Official Gazette BiH, no. 10/02), the court of BiH, at the plenary session held on 20 June 2002, adopted
BOOK OF RULES
ON THE WORK OF THE COURT OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
PART ONE
I – GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
This Book of Rules sets forth the rules which the Plenum and The court of BiH Divisions (hereinafter: the court) shall abide by when discussing and deciding on issues under their jurisdiction as defined by the Law, as well as the procedures before the Criminal, Administrative and Appellate Divisions, insofar as they have not been regulated by the Law.
Article 2
Provisions laid down in this Book of Rules shall also define the bases of the internal operations organization, so that the court may exercise its function in a legal, timely and efficient manner.
Article 3
The Book of Rules and its amendments shall be issued by the Plenum by a majority vote.
II – THE PLENUM
Article 4
The Plenum shall consist of the President and all judges of the court.
It is the right and duty of each judge of the court to take part in the Plenum’s work.
Article 5
The court President shall prepare, convene and preside over the Plenum’s work.
In the absence of the court President, the Plenum shall be convened and presided over by a judge substituting for the court President.
The Plenum shall be mandatorily convened when so requested by a Division or at least five judges.
Article 6
The Plenum may convene only if at least two thirds of the judges are present, while decisions shall be made by a majority vote of all judges of the court.
Article 7
The Plenum agenda shall be proposed by the court President, and approved by the Plenum.
Draft agenda may include issues submitted after the Plenum has been convened, providing they are of significance for the court’s work, and require no prior preparation.
Article 8
After the agenda has been adopted, the Plenum shall discuss issues in the order presented on the agenda, by having the rapporteur or the plenum chairman lay out prior to the debate the legal issues of relevance for the debate and the decision-making.
Following the rapporteur’s report, the floor shall be given to the judges in the order they applied, providing that those who wish to talk about breaches of the Book of Rules, or correct a statement that in their opinion has been wrongly interpreted, and has caused a misunderstanding, are entitled to take the floor as soon as they apply.
Article 9
The Chief Registrar of the court and his deputies, as well as registrars of Divisions, may participate in debates without the right to participate in decision-making.
Article 10
The voting procedure shall be public, and shall be carried out by hand-raising.
If several proposals have been put forward for resolving an issue, the voting shall take place in the order in which the proposals were submitted, while the rapporteur’s proposal shall be considered as the first one.
Upon the completion of voting, the chairman shall announce the voting results.
Article 11
A judge cannot abstain from voting, and if he should disagree with the decision made, he may have a dissenting opinion which shall then be attached to the minutes, on condition he has provided a written explanation within two days.
The dissenting opinion shall be enclosed with the decision as an annex. In case the decision is published, the dissenting opinion shall be published as well.
Article 12
Minutes shall be taken of the Plenum’s work.
Minutes shall be taken by the Chief Registrar or his deputy.
Minutes shall contain basic data about the Plenum’s work, proposals submitted, and the conclusions made.
Minutes shall be verified by the chairman.
Article 13
A copy of the minutes shall be forwarded to the heads of Divisions.
Possible remarks and comments on the minutes shall be discussed at the following Plenum.
If the remarks are approved, the minutes shall be amended accordingly.
Article 14
In case a certain legal position or opinion is taken on a legal issue by one of the judges of the court, the Plenum shall set out its formulation.
The court shall issue legal positions or opinions separately.
Article 15
For the purpose of changing a legal position or opinion, it is necessary to submit a reasoned request listing the reasons for the change of the previous legal position or opinion.
Article 16
Besides the responsibilities set forth by the Law on the court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Plenum shall also adopt general acts related to the rights and obligations of The court employees, as well as other general acts related to the court functioning.
III – THE COURT DIVISIONS
Article 17
The court shall have Criminal, Administrative and Appellate Divisions, while the number of judges in Divisions shall be set forth by the law.
Judges from other Divisions may sit in particular Divisions, according to the court President’s schedule.
Divisions shall elect heads of divisions who shall also serve as panel presidents of those divisions.
A head of division may designate a judge who shall preside over that division panel.
Article 18
Having received a casefile in the first instance, following a review the judge shall take the case and classify it according to the degree of urgency.
The judge is obliged to take without delay the cases which the Law requires to be dealt with in an expedited procedure.
Article 19
The judge shall schedule trial hearings by issuing an order, after which the casefile shall be returned to the registry officer for registration in the registry book and further action upon the order.
Article 20
Ongoing casefiles shall as a rule be kept in the calendar of hearings.
Ongoing casefiles shall be put in the calendar of hearings in appropriate binders according to the dates of hearings or records.
Article 21
Upon the case reception, regarding legal remedies, one shall form a casefile with the adequate The court registry book marking.
Article 22
Upon the completed procedure, the court shall return the case to the competent the court in regard to which it has made its decision, or the state body of BiH if it was deciding on the legality of final administrative acts, with the necessary number of copies of the decision for the parties and the court, or the state body.
When deciding in a panel in the presence of the parties, in the event of a remand, besides the copies of its own decision, the court shall also send out a copy of the minutes of the panel session, or the transcripts of the main trial if held.
Article 23
When an appeal or a complaint has been filed due to a violation of a subjective electoral right, the court shall not be deciding on the legality of the final act.
Article 24
If the Head of Division believes that certain panel decisions are not in conformity with the interpretation of the relevant legal provision, he shall inform the court President.
The court President may decide to hold the sending out of a decision copy until the issue has been discussed at a Division plenum.
In case the Division’s position is contrary to that of the panel, the panel is obliged to revisit the issue.
Article 25
Provisions relating to the convening and operation of a division plenum, voting and taking minutes, shall be included in the Rules of Procedure on the work of the Division.
IV – THE COURT PRESIDENT
Article 26
The Court President shall organize the work of the court and coordinate cooperation with other institutions.
Article 27
Apart from his responsibilities set forth in Article 21 of the Law on the court of BiH, and Article 26 of this Book of Rules, the court President shall issue individual acts related to the rights and obligations of The court employees, as well as other individual acts related to the functioning of the court, plus other tasks envisioned by this Book of Rules and other general acts of the court.
Article 28
In case of the court President’s absence, he shall be substituted by a deputy he has delegated himself, with all powers and responsibilities enjoyed by the court President.
V - ATTORNEYS
Article 29
Besides attorneys, who must fulfill the requirements set forth in Article 12, Item 1, of the Law on the court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the court may allow an attorney to act before the court even if he does not fulfill the requirements laid down in this paragraph, in the following cases:
in first-instance proceedings, to a law firm trainee in case he substitutes for an attorney and if the proceedings relate to a criminal act punishable by the Law with up to five years of imprisonment, and with a bar exam also for the crimes which are punishable with an imprisonment sentence exceeding five years;
in administrative proceedings, to each person who has full legal capacity, except for the persons involved in quackery, and
in appellate proceedings, including electoral appeals, except in criminal cases where only an attorney at law may act as an attorney.
Article 30
A party shall give the power of attorney in writing or orally to be recorded in The court transcripts.
The extent of the power of attorney shall be set by the party.
The party may authorize the attorney to take certain actions only, or to take all actions in the proceedings.
Article 31
If the court assesses that an attorney who is not an attorney at law is not capable of performing his duties, it shall point out to the party at the detrimental consequences which the malpractice may cause.
Article 32
If the defense counsel or the attorney impedes the proceedings before the court, the panel president shall issue a warning to them, which shall be entered into the court transcripts and published. Should the warning go unheeded, the panel may order that they be removed from the court, and fined with up to 500 KM.
The removal and the fine may be cumulative, noting that any fine shall automatically be followed by a removal.
Article 33
In case the defense counsel or the attorney continues to violate the order even after the sentence has been pronounced, he may be denied further defense, or representation, while the party shall be given a time-frame to hire another defense counsel or attorney.
The decision to deny representation shall be entered into the court transcripts with a short explanation, while no special appeal is allowed against the decision.
Article 34
The competent Bar Association shall be informed about the sanctions under the previous article in relation to the attorney at law, for the purpose of taking necessary measures in terms of Article 12, Item 5, of the Law on the court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
VI – INTERNAL ORGANIZATION
Article 35
Duties and tasks falling under the court’s scope of activities shall be carried out in organizational units, namely the following:
1. Common Registry of the court;
2. Organizational unit of judges;
3. Administrative Division.
Article 36
The Common Registry of the court shall consist of the Chief Registrar of the court and two deputies.
The Common Registry of the court, under supervision of the court President, shall be run by the Chief Registrar of the court with his two deputies.
The Chief Registrar of the court and his two deputies shall be elected by the court at the Plenum, based on a public vacancy announcement.
Article 37
The organizational unit of judges shall comprise The court Divisions, namely the Criminal Division, the Administrative Division and the Appellate Division.
Each the court division shall have a registry, and a registrar.
The division registrar shall be elected by the court Plenum based on a public vacancy announcement.
Article 38
The Administrative Division shall have two departments, namely
a) Department for legal, general, administrative, and technical support affairs;
b) Department for financial-material affairs.
The Common Registry shall supervise, assist and be responsible for the work of the Administrative Division.
Article 39
The court’s internal organization shall be regulated by the Book of Rules on internal organization, which includes the following:
internal organization and organizational units;
description of jobs in the internal organizational units and positions;
number of required employees, necessary expert qualification and other work skills, the employee’s title, as well as other requirements for the work in the said positions;
special rights and duties, or powers of employees in performing their tasks;
work management and coordination; and
other issues important for the organization and the work of the court.
Article 40
A work schedule is supposed to provide for the full-capacity employment of the court employees and a maximal use of their expertise and other work skills.
The basis for the work schedule for particular employees shall be set forth in the work program for the given year, laid down by the court President, based on the previously obtained opinion of the Plenum.
Article 41
The work schedule shall be presented to all judges and other employees of the court.
The work schedule must be duly and timely adopted, so that it can be in application as from 1 January of the following year.
VII – OTHER PROVISIONS
Article 42
The work of the court shall be public, while the public nature of proceedings shall be provided for by allowing the parties to the proceedings and other interested persons to attend trials and the court sessions which, based on this Book of Rules, shall not be closed to the public, by providing information on the course of the proceedings, by publishing of the decisions issued, and in any other way determined by the court.
Proceedings before the court shall not be public with regard to working sessions, including case deliberation and voting sessions.
Proceedings shall be closed to the public also when the court discusses and decides on the matters of a secret character in accordance with the Law, when so required by the reasons of the protection of moral, public order, state security, privacy rights and personal rights.
Closing the proceedings to the public, under the previous paragraph, shall not apply to the parties to the proceedings.
Article 43
The scope of duties and tasks at the court shall be set forth in the annual work plan (Article 21, Para 2, of the Law on the court of Bosnia and Herzegovina), adopted by the court Plenum.
The work plan shall be adopted at the beginning of each calendar year for the current year.
In case of new obligations for the court, the work plan shall be amended in the manner of its adoption.
Article 44
The court shall issue an official ID card to the President and all judges.
The form and the mode of issuing official ID cards shall be set forth by the court.
Article 45
The court President and the judges are obliged to wear the official robe at trials and public sessions.
The judges robe shall be of a black toga type.
PART TWO
VIII – PROVISIONS ON THE INTERNAL OPERATION OF THE COURT
1. The court administration
Article 46
The court administration duties particularly include the following:
providing the conditions for the work of the court;
organizing internal operations at the court;
making sure that duties and tasks at the court are carried out duly and timely;
performing duties regarding the exercise of rights and duties of employees at the Administrative Division;
organizing professional training and development of judges and other employees of the court;
keeping the court statistics;
financial-material operations and other duties defined by the law and provisions set forth in this Book of Rules.
2. The court interpreters and experts
Article 47
The court President shall, for the needs of the court, make a list of official the court interpreters based on the information obtained from the Sarajevo Cantonal The court, as well as from organizations and institutions taking care of deaf, mute and deaf-mute persons.
Article 48
The court shall keep a list of official the court experts for various areas of expertise in special proceedings.
The list of official the court experts shall be made based on the decision on the appointment of particular persons as official the court experts.
Pending the appointment of official the court experts by the court President, one shall use the experts from the list of official the court experts of the Sarajevo Cantonal The court.
IX – COMMUNICATION WITH PARTIES AND OTHER PERSONS
1. Orientation inside the court building
Article 49
A sign bearing the official name of the court, written in Latin script, Bosnian and Croat languages, and in Cyrillic script, Serb language, shall be placed on the building right by the entrance door.