On 25 January 2022 in Sarajevo, BiH, UNODC GFP held a workshop on the Criminal Code harmonization with UN Firearms Protocol and BiH’s participation in the UNODC’s Mechanism for the Review of the Implementation of the UNTOC and Protocols thereto. The event gathered representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Security, Prosecutor’s Office and the judiciary.
During the workshop, UNODC GFP has presented the gap analysis on the implementation of the UN Firearms Protocol in the domestic criminal legislations. The analysis has included the relevant provisions of firearms offences in four Criminal Codes in BiH. The discussions have focused on the recommendations for harmonizing the Criminal Code at the state level with the criminalization provisions of the UN Firearms Protocol. As a result, the Ministry of Justice has agreed to forward UNODC’s recommendations to the working group for review and amendment of the Criminal Code at state level.
The second part of the workshop was dedicated to the UNTOC Review Mechanism, a peer-review process for the Review of the Implementation of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto. UNODC’s Conference Support Section of the Organized Crime Branch (CSS) has presented the multi-year workplan, the rules of the Review Mechanism and the functioning of the dedicated online module (REVMOD), which is used for online collaboration between reviewers and reviewed countries.
UNODC CSS has organized for BiH a mock review of UNTOC and its Protocols and has provided the BiH Focal Point with updated information about the procedures of the Review Mechanism and the next steps in the process.
This activity is implemented with the financial support provided by Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, France, the Netherlands and Norway through the Western Balkans SALW Control Roadmap Trust Fund and supported by the European Union.
