II. MEMBERS AND STAFF OF THE CHAMBER

A. Members of the Chamber

The Human Rights Chamber is composed of 14 members as provided in Article VII of Annex 6 to the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Annex A). Four members were appointed by the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and two by the Republika Srpska. The remaining eight members are internationals and were appointed by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. Pursuant to Annex 6, the international members are not citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina or any neighbouring state. The President of the Chamber, Ms. Michèle Picard, a French national, was designated by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe from among the international members. The members appointed are all distinguished lawyers and bring to the Chamber a wide variety of experience in different backgrounds including the judiciary, the academic sphere, private legal practice, administration and politics, and international, criminal and human rights law. A list of the members and their short biographies are attached to this Report as Annex B.

B. Secretariat of the Chamber

The Secretariat is the full-time staff of the Chamber, based in Sarajevo with an additional office in Banja Luka. The Secretariat staff remained at about 34 during the year, with approximately 8 internationals employed at any one time including the Executive Officer, Registrar and several lawyers who work in teams with national lawyers. The Chamber also started an intern program in 2001 for national law students who work in both the Sarajevo and Banja Luka offices. A list of the staff of the Secretariat is attached to this Report as Annex C.

The Chamber continues to rely almost exclusively on direct funding from individual governments to cover the salaries of international staff. In 2001, the United States, German and Netherlands Governments provided funding for international staff. Other governments have been encouraged to second lawyers without success. In previous years, the Council of Europe seconded a Registrar to the Chamber from the staff of the European Court of Human Rights and subsidized the cost. This arrangement ceased In September 2001 and the Chamber hired a Registrar directly, choosing a lawyer who had previously worked at the Chamber. During 2001, interns from Germany, the United States and Bosnia and Herzegovina contributed to the work of the Chamber.

The Human Rights Chamber is provided office space by the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Presidency Building in Sarajevo. In May 2001, the Chamber moved into 5 recently-vacated adjoining rooms alleviating somewhat the severely cramped conditions in which the staff had been working. But more office space still is needed to accommodate new staff, especially lawyers and translators, to deal with the ever-increasing number of newly registered applications. The Chamber meets in session in the Presidency Building in a room that it shares with the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Public hearings are held at the Sarajevo Cantonal Court. The Chamber rents private space for its office in Banja Luka.