Sarajevo Open Centre trains Republika Srpska judiciary on anti-LGBTI discrimination and hate crime

Sarajevo Open Centre (SOC), Bosnia and Herzegovina’s leading LGBTI rights organisation, held a two-day training on 29 and 30 October for members of the judiciary in Republika Srpska, the country’s Serb-majority entity, on recognising and handling cases of discrimination, hate speech and hate crime.

The course was run together with Republika Srpska’s Centre for the Education of Judges and Public Prosecutors and focused on prejudice-motivated cases involving sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics.

Through lectures and discussion, participants examined the legal framework, the difficulties of applying it in practice and why a timely and appropriate institutional response matters for protecting the rights of LGBTI people. The lecturers were Professor Marija Lučić-Ćatić and Professor Midhat Izmirlija.

A Living Library

A distinctive part of the programme was a Living Library, in which participants could talk directly with LGBTI people about their own experiences. According to the organisers, it linked legal knowledge to real situations and gave a better sense of the consequences of discrimination and violence.

SOC said continuous training of the judiciary is an important step towards more consistent use of existing legal protections, more effective prosecution of discrimination and hate crime, and greater trust among LGBTI people in the courts. The group says it will continue working to strengthen institutions’ capacity to protect LGBTI people’s rights across the country.

The training was funded by Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through its 2026 fund for EU enlargement and European fundamental values.

Source: soc.ba. English adaptation: gay-serbia.com.