Del 0 - Southeast European Studies

Post-Conflict Judicial Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Nyhet

The False Promise of Judicial Independence

Inbunden, Engelska, 2026

AvDavid Pimentel

2 609 kr

Kommande

Judicial reform became a priority for international development in the 1990s and remains central to EU enlargement conditionality today. Yet despite significant investment, there is limited empirical evidence about the effectiveness of these initiatives. This book addresses this gap through a comprehensive longitudinal study of Bosnia and Herzegovina's post-war judicial reforms.Drawing on unique survey data from judges and prosecutors, it provides the first long-term empirical assessment of post-conflict judicial reform outcomes. The findings reveal a complex picture: while reforms successfully established judicial independence and insulated courts from ethnic politics, they also created new vulnerabilities to corruption and impunity. The book demonstrates that judicial independence, when introduced without adequate integrity safeguards, can become counterproductive to rule of law objectives. Considering original survey data spanning more than two decades of post-reform implementation, it offers a critical analysis of judicial independence and accountability tensions and evidence-based insights for EU conditionality and development policy.It will be of interest to scholars and students of comparative law, transitional justice, and development studies, challenging prevailing assumptions about judicial independence, particularly in post-conflict settings.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2026-07-31
Mått156 x 234 x undefined mm
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SerieSoutheast European Studies
Antal sidor222
FörlagTaylor & Francis Ltd
ISBN9781041254065

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David Pimentel is Allan G. Shepard Professor of Law at the University of Idaho. He has an M.A. (Economics) and a J.D. (Law) from University of California Berkeley, and a Ph.D. (Law & Politics) from University of Graz. A U.S. Supreme Court Fellow in 1997-98, he went to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in 2002 where he led the Independent Judicial Commission’s Court Restructuring project, returning to Sarajevo in 2010-11 as a Fulbright Scholar to study the impact of BiH’s court reforms. In the meantime, he served as the Chief of Court Management at the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and as Head of Rule of Law for South Sudan for the UN Mission there. He has written and consulted extensively on rule of law promotion, judicial structure and governance, and court reform around the world, including in BiH, Montenegro, Iraq, Nepal, Thailand, South Sudan, and Mozambique.

Introduction Chapter 1: History of judicial reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina Chapter 2: Understanding judicial independence Chapter 3: Understanding judicial accountability Chapter 4: Reconciling judicial independence with judicial accountability Chapter 5: Dedication and motivation in the judiciary Chapter 6: How does this theory, and the survey data collected, help us understand what has happened in the post-war BiH judiciary? Conclusion Appendix: The Surveys

"This is a groundbreaking study on judicial reform in Bosnia with broad implications. Beyond Bosnia, it offers essential insights, based on impressive research spanning decades, on how international reform efforts overemphasized judicial independence, with relevance for judicial reform globally."- Florian Bieber, Professor of Southeast European History and Politics and Director, Centre for Southeast European Studies, Graz School of Interdisciplinary Transnational Studies, University of Graz"This is an exceptional and deeply persuasive work. Drawing on rare longitudinal empirical data and a lifetime of engagement with comparative constitutional law, the author offers a nuanced and convincing reassessment of judicial independence and accountability in post-conflict settings. The book makes a major contribution to comparative constitutional scholarship on rule-of-law and judicial reforms and will be indispensable reading for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers alike."- Jens Woelk, Professore ordinario di diritto costituzionale comparato, Full Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law, University of Trento