The Rulebook on Timeframes for Case Processing in Courts and Prosecutor’s Offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH Nos. 5/13, 101/13, and 61/14) establishes the criteria and methodology for determining and monitoring compliance with optimal and predictable timeframes for resolving cases in courts and prosecutor’s offices, in accordance with the guidelines of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ).
The purpose of establishing optimal and predictable timeframes is to ensure appropriate durations of legal proceedings and to standardize the allocation of resources within judicial institutions, enabling efficient, timely, and professional handling of cases.
Optimal timeframes for case processing represent the standard period within which cases should be lawfully and efficiently resolved in courts or prosecutor’s offices.A predictable timeframe is the realistic period within which a case is expected to be completed, calculated from the moment the initial filing document is received by the court or prosecutor’s office. In cases where the predictable timeframe exceeds the optimal one, continuous efforts must be made to reduce it.
When determining predictable timeframes for resolving cases in courts and prosecutor’s offices, in addition to the optimal timeframe for the specific case type, the following must be considered: the backlog of unresolved cases assigned to a specific department, the situation in each individual court or prosecutor’s office, and the time required to resolve these cases based on the available resources within the institution, along with established provisional quotas.
The Rulebook is currently being applied on a trial basis in all courts and prosecutor’s offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The test phase will conclude on 1 March 2025, after which courts and prosecutor’s offices will begin issuing notifications on the predictable timeframes for resolving cases under their jurisdiction.