Disciplinary proceedings are regularly conducted throughout all prisons in BiH but depend upon the different procedures and standards set out in the Laws on Execution of Criminal Sanctions at the entity and BiH levels. These Laws prescribe the acts which constitute severe and minor disciplinary offences, except the BiH Law on Execution of Criminal Sanctions that does not recognize this difference. Further there are certain discrepancies among these three laws which raise serious concern over the equal treatment of prisoners.44 Disciplinary proceedings are conducted by a commission appointed by the prison director45 and the convicted person has a right to appeal the decision under different deadlines.46 Appeals are decided by the director. Although the relevant laws do not specify the rights of the persons under disciplinary procedure it can be assumed that the general right to defence also provides for more specific rights such as the right to call witnesses or legal aid etc. In practice, disciplinary procedures are usually initiated for offences like possession of a mobile phone, drug possession, violent outbreaks, or the repeated breaking of prison rules such as not getting up on time or smoking in prohibited areas. Disciplinary sanctions include written warnings, reduction, or even the complete cessation, in the use of privileges47 and solitary confinement.48 2.2. Proceedings As a matter of concern, it was observed that disciplinary sanctions were imposed immediately after an offence was committed, therefore rendering any kind of disciplinary proceeding meaningless. In many instances, by the time the disciplinary sentence was determined, the sentence had already been served. The number of appeals submitted appears to depend on the perception of effectiveness of the appeals proceedings. For instance, the prison management in Banja Luka recalled only one appeal in 2009 against a disciplinary decision, whereas the prison director in Mostar frequently receives appeals, through which he regularly reduces the imposed sentence. For the most part, prisoners expressed doubtfulness about the fairness and effectiveness of disciplinary proceedings. Extensive examination of the application of fair trial standards to disciplinary proceedings in prisons was not the subject of this research; this remains an issue which needs to be further explored by domestic authorities or monitoring bodies, as it appears that there may be a serious discrepancy with the applicability of basic fair trial standards to disciplinary sanctions. sanction which, by its nature and degree of severity, belongs in general to the ‘criminal’ sphere.” See also Campbell and Fell v. the United Kingdom, Judgment of 28 June 1984. 44 For example, the new RS Law on Execution of Criminal Sanctions proscribe in details what constitutes the offence while the FBiH Law on Execution of Criminal Sanctions provides only for severe disciplinary offences while the list of minor offences shall be proscribed by the house rules of particular institution. 45 Article 97 FBiH LECS; Article 130 RS LECS and Article 103 BiH LECS. 46 While in RS and BiH LECS this deadline is 3 days in FBiH LECS is 15 days. 47 Privileges according to the relevant laws may be within or outside of the institution (including leave for 24 hours to vacation with the family.) 48 Please note that the relevant laws prescribe differently the sanctions that may be pronounced. Convicted persons may also be placed in a different category according to internal prison rules, or transferred to a different prison facility. 16