Enforcement of Sentences in Cases Transferred under Rule 11bis

It is questionable whether the failure of the Entities’ authorities to enforce sentences imposed by the Court of BiH in cases transferred by the ICTY (as was seen in the case against Radovan Stanković) violates the duty to cooperate in accordance with Article II.8 of the Constitution and – if the failure constitutes a violation – which level (i.e., State level or Entity level) it should be attributed to. The ICTY did not go further than “expressing its concern” about the escape of Radovan Stanković, rather than addressing the issue in the context of cooperation obligations, which was probably due to the fact that the insufficiencies in relation to the enforcement system were well known at the time of both the motion for transfer being made by the OTP as well as at the time of the decision taken by the Referral Bench.²⁵⁶⁵ In any event, the failure to enforce imprisonment sentences such as in the Stanković case highlights the need to upgrade existing enforcement facilities and/or to establish a new facility at the State level.