Teresa Thalhammer during the panel discussion on attracting experts. IRZ
On 17 September 2026, the NCP (National Contact Point) invited German federal and state authorities to its annual conference in Berlin. The event serves as a forum for the exchange of experiences and networking amongst German authorities involved in twinning projects. Since 1998, IRZ has represented the BMJV in the application and implementation of EU twinning projects in the justice sector and is therefore a regular guest at this important event
Experiences in identifying experts
Teresa Thalhammer, EU Projects Coordinator at IRZ, shared her experiences from the numerous Twinning projects carried out by IRZ in recent years during the panel discussion on identifying experts. Moderated by Bernd Schumacher from the NCP, she spoke with Joachim Heyer from the Federal Criminal Police Office. In particular, the recruitment of suitable experts from the judiciary and legal practice met with great interest from colleagues in other departments: there, it is often difficult to secure time off for practitioners to take part in projects.
What is an EU Twinning project?
Under this EU funding instrument, Germany joins forces with another EU Member State to support a partner country on a specific reform issue. IRZ has carried out over 90 such projects to date; there are currently four projects underway in North Macedonia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Jordan, with three further projects (one in Kazakhstan, two in Morocco) due to start shortly. With a success rate of 80 per cent over the past 10 years and a proven track record in twinning, IRZ is one of the most experienced institutions in the German twinning landscape.
Workshop for the federal states
The day before, the NCP also organised a workshop for the contact points of the federal states. The aim was to generate interest in the Twinning instrument and to discuss how to attract experts from state authorities.
From left to right: Olha Riabukha, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine; President Anette Kramme, Member of the German Bundestag and Parliamentary State Secretary at the BMJV; Dr Christian Johnson, General Director of IRZ. IRZ
On 22 September 2026, Anette Kramme, Parliamentary State Secretary at the BMJV, Chair of our Board of Trustees and Member of the German Bundestag, invited Members of the German Bundestag and staff from their offices to the Paul-Löbe-Haus, just a few metres from the Reichstag building.
The aim of the early-morning meeting was to provide first-hand information about the work of IRZ.
IRZ operates on behalf of the Federal Government and is primarily funded from the BMJV’s budget. In recent years, the German Bundestag has also provided the IRZ with increased funding for its work in Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. Reason enough to show the Members of the German Bundestag what is being achieved with these funds!
President Kramme, our Chief Executive Dr Christian Johnson and two members of staff presented the milestones in the promotion of the rule of law achieved by our highly specialised organisation. Of particular note was the participation of Olha Riabukha, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Justice. She highlighted the cooperation with IRZ from the perspective of our long-standing partner country, Ukraine, and expressed her gratitude for the ongoing support.
The fact that members of the Board of Trustees and the Association also attended this event demonstrates that IRZ can count on the interest of its partners.
Some members of the IRZ Advisory Council. Front, centre: Advisory Board spokesperson Dr Birgit Grundmann, former State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Justice, barrister IRZ
The IRZ AdvisoryCouncil on ‘Law and Economic Transformation’ held its 14th meeting on 3 August 2026. Practitioners from the business sector and the legal profession welcome the fact that the IRZ has once again strengthened its specialist focus on commercial law. This will enable the framework conditions for investment by German companies in the IRZ’s partner countries to be improved in concrete terms; to this end, the IRZ can also draw on the expertise of the Advisory Council. Alongside other measures, the networks of the Advisory Board members are to be utilised more extensively to embed the IRZ in politics, society and the economy.
Dr Birgit Grundmann, spokesperson for the Advisory Council: “The legal framework in IRZ’s partner countries is an important location factor for German companies. That is why, for several years now, IRZ has had an Economic Advisory Board comprising practitioners from the export-oriented business sector and the legal professions. The Advisory Board met for the 14th (!) time on 3 August and held in-depth discussions on how IRZ can raise its profile further in political and business circles, and which areas – particularly within commercial law – will be key priorities in the future. I would like to thank all members for their tremendous commitment!”
The 71st Board of Trustees meeting and 34th General Assembly of IRZ in the Gustav Heinemann Hall at the BMJV IRZ
Under the leadership of the Chair of the Board of Trustees – Parliamentary State Secretary at the BMJV – Ms Anette Kramme, new members of the Board of Trustees were elected at the joint meeting of the Board of Trustees and the IRZ Association, and the extension of the Advisory Board for Law and Economic Transformation was approved. Ms Kramme reported on her recent trip to Uzbekistan, where she signed a joint declaration of intent between the BMJV and the Uzbek Ministry of Justice on legal cooperation, which will be implemented by the IRZ, with the Uzbek Minister of Justice, Mr Tashkulov.
‘IRZ is the central instrument for promoting the rule of law and also reflects global politics,’ stated Alexandra Albrecht, General Director of IRZ. In this context, she cited the different developments in the Republic of Moldova and Georgia as examples.
Our project managers then reported on IRZ's activities in the areas of constitutional law and human rights, justice and the rule of law, commercial law, civil law and family law.
Of course, we constantly ask ourselves self-critically: Are we actually achieving anything with our work? How can successes in the field of promoting the rule of law be measured? Dr Stefan Hülshörster, Director of the IRZ, explained that this is possible and that IRZ is excellently positioned in this regard, based on comprehensive monitoring of all IRZ measures and supplementary external evaluations.
Time and again, we find that the exchange with our committed committees greatly enriches our work: we receive new ideas and can incorporate them into our measures to promote the rule of law. We would like to continue pursuing this approach in the future.
The Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection, Dr. Stefanie Hubig, visits the IRZ stand on August 22, 2025. Copyright: Photothek/Thomas Trutschel IRZ
Numerous interested citizens exchanged ideas with us last weekend at the Federal Government's open house at the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection: while we reported on our legal policy cooperation with our partner countries, people of all ages took part in our online quiz with questions about our partner countries. Afterwards, we often heard participants say, “That was fun!”
In addition to the high number of visitors, we were impressed by the open and genuine interest in our projects and the regions in which we work. We clearly succeeded in reaching young lawyers and people who were not yet familiar with us and in inspiring them with the importance of legal and judicial reform projects.
That is why we are already looking forward to participating again next year!
Photo of Anette Kramme, new President of the IRZ IRZ
We are delighted that Ms Anette Kramme, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection and Member of the German Bundestag, was elected as the new President at the Board of Trustees’ meeting on 7 July 2025.
The digital and accessible version of the IRZ Annual Report 2024 is now available.
The accessible document contains a wealth of information about our projects to promote the rule of law, support legal and judicial reforms in our partner states, and other advisory projects with our domestic and foreign partner institutions and numerous experts in around 20 partner states.
The focus of our work is naturally on our partner states, which are EU accession candidate countries and are restructuring their legal systems to bring them into line with EU standards. However, democratic reforms and the rule of law are also playing an increasingly important role in our other partner states. In view of the current armed conflicts, these issues are more important than ever and are particularly close to our hearts.
The new Annual Report 2024 presents these and other exciting projects and also reports on the organisational structure, working methods and financing of IRZ. Informative graphics round off the publication.
We hope you enjoy reading it and thank you for your interest in our work and your continued support for our commitment.
IRZ General Director Alexandra Albrecht during her speech at the summer party in Berlin (Copyright Foto: Andreas Burkhardt) IRZ
The rule of law is under pressure, and the IRZ's mission is more relevant than ever:
‘Through personal exchanges and discussions on sensitive topics in a protected environment, the IRZ is able to build trust even in difficult times and support our partner states in establishing structures based on the rule of law,’ emphasised IRZ Chief Executive Alexandra Albrecht during this year's joint summer party hosted by the German Judges Association, the German Notaries Association and the German Women Lawyers Association. The IRZ's successes are evident in the dialogue between equals, the respectful exchange of views and a clear view of the reality on the ground.
Many guests took the opportunity to talk to the Chair of the Verkhovna Rada's Legal Affairs Committee, Mr Denys Maslov, and other members of the Ukrainian Parliament. They were in Germany on a working visit to revise the Ukrainian Constitutional Court Act. Together with members of the Bundestag from the governing and opposition parties, leading representatives of the federal and state governments and high-ranking representatives of the judiciary, they spent a stimulating evening at the House of Justice.
In our annual report, we provide information on our rule of law promotion activities, on the advisory projects carried out to support legal and judicial reforms in our partner countries and on the international projects that we are implementing together with our domestic and foreign partner institutions and numerous experts in around 20 partner countries. Our work naturally focuses in particular on partner countries that are EU accession candidates and are reorganising their legal systems in line with EU standards. However, rule of law and democratic reforms are also playing an increasingly important role in our other partner countries. In view of the current armed conflicts, these issues are more important than ever. The new Annual Report 2023 presents these and similar exciting projects and also reports on the organisational structure, working methods and funding of the IRZ. Informative graphics round off the publication.
You can find the 2023 annual report in German and English here.
The 12th German Diversity Day took place on 28 May 2024, in which IRZ also took part for the first time this year after signing the Diversity Charter in November 2023. The motto of this year's Diversity Day was "Voice for diversity – 365 days a year!"
At their own request, employees in the Bonn and Berlin offices took a close look at issues of everyday racism. The atmosphere was friendly throughout, the discussions were lively and characterised by openness. In conclusion, many of the colleagues realised how valuable and constructive such an exchange is in order to critically question their own attitudes.
