On 27 July 2021, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), UNODC through its Global Firearms Programme conducted a workshop on information exchange on criminal procedural law applicable in firearms investigations. The workshop was attended by 10 criminal justice practitioners, including prosecutors, representatives from State Investigation and Protection Agency and Border Police, judicial police officers and members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Similarly to other meetings conducted in the Western Balkans under the regional project on Criminal Justice Response to Arms Trafficking, the methodology included presentation and review of adjudicated trafficking cases under Article 193 of the Criminal Code of BiH, including the facts of the case, the profile of the perpetrators, the type and quantity of firearms, the qualification of the offence and the indictment, the arguments before the basic court, the arguments before the appeal’s court and the arguments in the final verdict.
Similarly to other meetings conducted in the Western Balkans under the regional project on Criminal Justice Response to Arms Trafficking, the methodology included presentation and review of adjudicated trafficking cases under Article 193 of the Criminal Code of BiH, including the facts of the case, the profile of the perpetrators, the type and quantity of firearms, the qualification of the offence and the indictment, the arguments before the basic court, the arguments before the appeal’s court and the arguments in the final verdict.
The discussions resulted in the identification of several challenges in the application of the criminal procedure law and substantive criminal law. Examples of such challenges include the lack of deadlines for making a decision on prolonging special investigative measures, which could lead to interruption of the criminal investigation. In the application of Article 193 of the BiH Criminal Code, some courts have disagreed with the qualification of firearms trafficking activities at border crossing points as the accomplishment of the trafficking offence. Instead, these activities have been qualified as an attempt for firearms trafficking. The qualification as an attempt was adopted although the current provision of Article 193 of the BiH Criminal Code does not envisage the movement across the border as a substantive component of the offence.
Finally, the confiscation of tools used for committing the offence, such as vehicles, has been problematic in some cases. Courts have requested the prosecution to prove ownership of the vehicle by the perpetrator. In cases of rented cars, this was not possible. This has resulted in the return of the vehicle to its legal owner, which contradicts the provision of Article 193, paragraph 6 of the BiH Criminal Code, which provides for confiscation of the means for transportation of the firearms.
This activity is implemented with the financial contribution provided by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway through the Western Balkans SALW Control Roadmap Trust Fund and supported by the European Union.
