UNODC supports Bosnia and Herzegovina in Developing Practical Guidance to Support Implementation of Codes of Conduct  

4-6 July 2023, Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina: Codes of conduct can play an important role in fostering a culture of integrity, preventing corruption and building public trust in the police and other law enforcement bodies. Putting in place such ethical standards is a specific requirement of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).

When in 2022 the jurisdictions in the Western Balkans participating in the Regional Anti-Corruption and Illicit Finance Roadmap discussed priority areas for engagement, counterparts from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) identified a need to review existing codes of conduct for law enforcement and to facilitate their further roll out among police officers, border guards and other law enforcement.

Accordingly, UNODC, in its capacity as Secretariat for the Regional Anti-Corruption and Illicit Finance Roadmap, and under the coordination of the BiH Ministry of Security, gathered senior staff from the BiH Border Police, the State Investigation and Protection Agency and the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies for a 3-day workshop to discuss specific integrity matters that are relevant for law enforcement, such as conflicts of interest, gifts, contacts with third parties, outside activities and the handling of confidential information. Based on this, the participants developed a set of concrete examples linked to the local context, which can serve as practical guidance for police and other law enforcement in BiH. These examples will be subject to further discussion within each law enforcement institution and used to complement their codes of conduct.

The workshop concluded with a brainstorming session on next steps to facilitate implementation of the codes of conduct, including the need to actively publish and disseminate them and to continue investing in training of new recruits and on-the-job training on ethics and integrity.

UNODC facilitated this workshop on ethics and integrity standards in law enforcement in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as other capacity development and dialogue to support the implementation of the Regional Anti-Corruption and Illicit Finance Roadmap, with financial support of the UK Government.

For more information:

Western Balkan Platform