This article analyses the role of the main international actors involved in the implementation of police reform in post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina, notably that of the UN and the EU. Despite considerable efforts and resources deployed over 17 years, the implementation of police reform remains an ‘unfinished business’ that demonstrates the slow pace of implementing rule of law reforms in Bosnia’s post-conflict setting, yet, in the long-term, remains vital for Bosnia’s stability and post-conflict reconstruction process.
Starting with a presentation of the status of the police before and after the conflict, UN reforms (1995–2002) are first discussed in order to set the stage for an analysis of the role of the EU in the implementation of police reform. Here, particular emphasis is placed on the institution-building actions of the EU police mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina deployed on the ground for almost a decade.
The article concludes with an overall assessment of UN and EU efforts in post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the remaining challenges encountered by the EU on the ground, as the current leader to police reform implementation efforts. More generally, the article highlights that for police reform to succeed in the long-term, from 2012-onwards, the EU should pay particular attention to the political level, where most of the stumbling blocks for the implementation of police reform lie.
Key findings:
- Despite UN and EU involvement to date, problems with institution-building reforms continue to persist at the political level. Some of these problems are reflected in the way local politicians seek to control the pace of institution-building by controlling the adoption of (and therefore the distribution) of budgets as well as the staffing levels of institutions, including the appointment of police directors for newly created institutions, which sometimes have seen delays. Within this context, the political resistance from the local level remains difficult to overcome.
- Strengthening central level institutions has been a slow process marred by political compromises. Moreover, at the end of the UN period, Bosnia’s context was still in an immediate post-conflict phase as regards the pace of implemented reforms. Only with time could EUPM go further into addressing the more systemic issues of institution-building. This shows the necessity of a long-term presence and constant and devoted efforts over the long run, for international actors to start to make an impact on the more systemic issues that lie at the heart of police reform.
- The initial and more in-depth focus of EUPM on police reform rather than rule of law at a more comprehensive level, demonstrated that police reform has been a difficult and long lasting endeavour in Bosnia. In fact, the experience with rule of law reform in Bosnia seems to have served as a lesson learned for EU, which later highlighted the importance of building the police and the judiciary in tandem in the context of its crisis management policies. The EU should continue on this path and seek to implement reforms that pay increased attention to addressing the connection between the police and the criminal justice system.
- The EU’s experience in Bosnia shows that the local elites’ will to cooperate is a central element to police reform/ statebuilding efforts. At the same time, the capabilities of the local authorities’ to implement reforms become equally important. While the EU recognises these aspects as important elements in the implementation of police reform, main challenges continue to be posed by the financial sustainability of the police framework, the continued fragmentation of the police system and the lack of independence of the police from politics.
To overcome remaining challenges and to ensure that police reform succeeds in the long-term, from 2012-onwards, the EU should pay particular attention to the political level, where most of the stumbling blocks for the implementation of police reform lie. Political will/ consensus among Bosnia’s elites is now required to further drive institution-building and achieve the implementation of police reform, more generally. Combining technical and political expertise under one rooftop, the EU Delegation/ Office of the EU Special Representative is in a good position to address these aspects. With the closure of EUPM, the EU has now abandoned classical crisis management tasks and continues its involvement with the local elite through an approach based on reinforcing Bosnia’s prospects of EU membership, and therefore, on reinvigorating EU efforts in the implementation of police reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
