almanac on security sector oversight in the Western Balkans

6.1.3. Judiciary
• Courts should ensure that cases involving any alleged misconduct by security sector
officials are processed impartially and without undue delay.
• Security sector institutions should ensure that allegations of misconduct on the part
of their representatives that are not manifestly ill-founded are subjected to court
review, and that all officials being criminally prosecuted do not continue performing
their duties until conclusion of proceedings against them, particularly in cases
where allegations involve abuses of their everyday authorities.
• The system of judicial control over the time spent in custody and/or detention
should be expanded and strengthened by introducing, inter alia, obligatory court
review of all decisions on custody, periodic judicial visits to custody units in addition
to detention units, procedural rules for judicial referral of allegations of maltreatment
to competent authorities for further investigation, and rules on enforcement
of judicial recommendations pertaining to treatment and conditions in custody
or detention (through changes to relevant laws including, but not limited to, the
Criminal Procedure Code, Law on Enforcement of Custodial Sanctions, Misdemeanour
Law and the Law on Police).
• Various systems of use of special investigative measures should be harmonised to
the greatest possible extent through changes to laws regulating organisation and
functioning of security sector authoritities (and accompanying regulation), such as
the Law on Security Intelligence Agency, Law on Military Security and Military Intelligence
Agency. This should ensure that courts play a role in approving the use
of such measures and overseeing their implementation and termination, including
destruction of information that is not going to be used.
• All institutions involved in the process of approval and use of special investigative
techniques (i.e. institutions requesting, granting, and executing such measures)
should ensure that records and statistics related to use of these measures are kept
and mechanisms of protection of personal data set forth by the Law on Personal
Data Protection are in place.
• Courts should increase transparency of judicial oversight of the security sector by
making information and data regarding such control available to the general public
through, for example, annual reports, statistics, and press / public statements
regarding the outcome of any such court proceedings, when possible.
6.1.4. Independent state institutions
• The government should ensure the follow-up of independent state institutions’
findings and recommendations, especially in those cases where these institutions
rely completely on the government (as in case of the Commissioner) for enforceability
of their recommendations.
• The government should provide independent state institutions with increased material
and human resources in order to allow them to work efficiently within the
scope of their competencies related to the control and oversight functions of the
state security sector.
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