Bosnian Judiciary Faces Crisis over Surveillance Law

High Representative Valentin Inzko, Bosnia and Herzegovina's top international official, warned of possible legal chaos late Wednesday after the Bosnian state parliament failed to adopt important amendments to criminal law procedures on issues like surveillance and the status of protected witness.

The state parliament did not adopt the legal amendments at its session on Wednesday, which potentially could lead to problems with the prosecution of serious criminal cases, Inzko said.

"This could have an effect on 50-100 cases ongoing in the prosecution of Bosnia. I do not exaggerate when I am saying that this could cause serious damage to the fight against corruption and crime... all measures taken during the procedure of collecting evidence might become illegal," he told Fena news agency.

The state-level Constitutional Court said in October 2017 that the current law has some sections that are not in line with the constitution, and at its next session on March 23, it could decide to confirm this opinion as a legal decision, triggering problems for the Bosnian judiciary.

The legal changes that were not adopted by parliament on Wednesday relate to special investigative activities used in the prevention and detection of serious crimes, including the use of covert agents, the interception of communications, and the monitoring of information.

Previous Constitutional Court decisions have said that the use of such investigative measures is currently not being properly supervised and that the new legal changes should improve the situation.

The EU Delegation in Bosnia said in a statement on Wednesday that the measures "must be limited solely to what is necessary in a democratic society, to ensure the proportionality between the right to...