The Second Meeting of the EU-BiH Structured Dialogue on Justice was held in Sarajevo on 10-11 November 2011. For the EU, the meeting was chaired by Director Pierre Mirel. The HoD/EUSR Ambassador Peter Sørensen also attended the opening session.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the European Commission adopted a set of detailed recommendations. Among others, these include actions to be urgently taken in the following areas:

• reduction of the backlog of cases, 
• implementation of the National War Crimes Strategy (including specific measures to consolidate the referral of cases and guarantee equal treatment of citizens before the law), 
• coordination amongst judiciary institutions,
• reform of the appellate system at the Court of BiH through the establishment of a separate appellate Court,
• measures to guarantee a smooth phasing out of international staff. Developments have also been requested to consolidate professionalism throughout the sector,
• improvements in the penitentiary system,
• cooperation between prosecutors and representatives from law enforcement agencies,
• and streamlining budgetary competences and ameliorating the allocation of financial resources.

Some specific legislative measures have also been addressed (e.g. adoption of the FBiH Law on Prosecutors’ Offices and amendments to the FBiH Law on Execution of Criminal Sanctions, adoption of a state framework Law on Free Legal Aid, Draft RS Law on Courts.

The EU-BiH Structured Dialogue on Justice was inaugurated in June 2011, with a view to establish a comprehensive platform. This is expected to allow a consistent and inclusive discussion of all shortcomings in the sector, along with the systematic identification of shared solutions to bring BiH closer to the EU institutions.