14 December 2007 The Association of Court Reporters (AIS)
held its 14th meeting in Sarajevo
on December 4, 2007.
AIS members discussed the improvement of
relations with the public relation offices of the Court of BiH and its
prosecution department, as well as remaining and new obstacles that AIS members
have not yet had a chance to discuss.
Plans for AIS activities in 2008 were also on the agenda.
The participants agreed that the cooperation with the court and prosecution
departments has been notably improved, in terms of more efficient flow of
information.
However, they also noted that certain obstacles remained despite the efforts to
overcome them. Most complaints refer to the lack of access to public archives
and courtroom photographs showing unprotected witnesses, the Trial Chamber and
prosecution members. This has led to the media having to use the same photographs
many times.
All photographs received from PIOS only show the indictees. This means that the
suspects are constantly visible to the public, undermining their basic legal
right to be considered innocent until proven guilty.
The AIS members agreed that it was necessary to organise a new meeting of
journalists, editors and representatives of judicial institutions. It was
decided to hold the meeting in the Art Gallery of Bosnia and
Herzegovina in Sarajevo
on December 18, from 6pm.
The aim of the meeting will be to reach new agreements and obtain suggestions
for improvement of the cooperation between the media and the state court and
prosecution, but also to improve the flow of information to the public
concerning court processes in general.
The association members also discussed AIS activities planned for 2008 and
agreed that, in addition to its regular activities, the association should
organise a number of meetings with the media and judicial institutions at local
level. The next AIS meeting, which will be held in late December, will focus on
planning these activities.
Representatives of BIRN BiH, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and court reporters
from BH Radio 1, Oslobodjenje,
Nezavisne novine and the Justice Report news agency participated in the
meeting.
The Association of Court Reporters was founded in 2005 in order to acquaint the
public, through coordinated activities, with the work of the Court of BiH and
its prosecution department. AIS is financially supported by the Konrad Adenauer
Foundation as part of the BIRN BiH project on "Media, Civil Society and
War Crime Trials".
Justice Report is a
specialist reporting agency focusing on war crimes trials taking place before
local courts; development of the local legal system; and efforts to come to
terms with the past.
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