TRAVEL REPORT The Hon. Michael Atkinson MP Attorney-General ...

The main problem facing the country is the Constitution . Proposed changesto the Constitution have been submitted to the appropriate commission . Theprocess will be delayed due to elections to be held on 19 September .According to the current constitutional needs changes require a two thirdsmajority and then confirmation by referendum which would be very hard toachieve . However, they are confident that 80% of the text of the newconstitution has already been accepted therefore will fall within the 9 monthsdeadline which has been set . His opinion is that the constitution should be asbrief as possible .Every three months a special commission meets to monitor the process ofjudicial reform and whether it conforms to the European model and waspleased to note that the commission considered that there had been seriouspositive improvement .The Ministry for Justice also provided substantial contribution to the formationof the Federal court which will be important because it will have the capacityto resolve issues between individuals and the state in addition to the twostates and be . H .E . Geoffrey Barrett was personally involved with the processof the setting up of the Federal CourtThe pool from which to choose judges was not very good . People begin asmagistrates and then the best leave to work independently as attorneys .There was a serious problem in trying to get some of the best people to returnto the judicial system . The first step might be to allocate a judicial budget forthe purpose but there are currently insufficient funds available for this .This Ministry does not have direct jurisdiction with The Hague . The Ministrymust provide the correct environment for transfer of court cases from theHague to the court system in Serbia The process is called Ovcara . A casecurrently being tried concerning war crimes in Vukovar, initially with 5-6accused which had risen to 19 would determine whether the cases could beproperly handled by the Serbian courts . They had received assistance fromthe Republic of Croatia's Ministry of Justice . It was necessary for them toform legal provisions especially concerning the legality of proof The Haguehad collected .Once again the delegation together with the Ambassador were thanked forhaving taken the opportunity to be briefed and were exhorted to ignore thesensationalist media reports .Travel Report, Hon. Michael Atkinson, MP. and Ms. Vini Ciccarello M.P., August, 2004 93