Witness protection in criminal proceedings

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Published: October 9, 2025

At the end of September, experts from Germany and Kosovo met in Pristina to discuss current legal challenges and solutions relating to witness protection, leniency programmes and juvenile criminal proceedings.

During the intensive discussions, judges and prosecutors exchanged their expertise, questioned existing systems and jointly developed new approaches. This not only deepened the participants' understanding of the international handling of witness and defendant rights, but also contributed to improving judicial practice in Kosovo. In our opinion, this is an important step in the further training of professionals and the development of the Kosovar legal system.

We would like to express our sincere thanks not only to our co-organiser, the Kosovo Judicial Academy (KJA), but also to Prof. Dr Georg Güntge, Chief Public Prosecutor and Permanent Representative of the Attorney General of Schleswig-Holstein, and Prof. Dr Michael Gubitz, lawyer and specialist in criminal law. Their presentations provided fascinating insights into German criminal law, particularly the practical aspects of witness protection and plea bargaining. The special features of German juvenile criminal proceedings and the treatment of underage defendants were also discussed in detail.

Of course, the Kosovar participants also benefited from the experience of local experts: Mr Ali Kutllovci, judge at the Court of Appeal, and Mr Agron Qalaj, public prosecutor in the Office of the Prosecutor General of Kosovo, enriched the discussion with valuable perspectives from everyday judicial practice in Kosovo.