Kosovo

Education and training for Kosovan judges and public prosecutors in the area of commercial law

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Published: March 7, 2023
Hybrid seminar on “Insolvency law - insights into Kosovan, German and European practice” in cooperation with the Kosovo Judicial Academy held on 8 November 2022.
Hybrid seminar on “Insolvency law - insights into Kosovan, German and European practice” in cooperation with the Kosovo Judicial Academy held on 8 November 2022.
Kosovo

IRZ is supporting the Kosovo Judicial Academy in the education and training of judges and public prosecutors. In 2022 the cooperation focused on commercial (criminal) law, and various seminars were held on the topic.

Seminar on “Insolvency law - insights into Kosovan, German and European practice”

In this context, a hybrid seminar on corporate insolvency law was held with the participation of 18 judges at the Judicial Academy on 8 November 2022. Speakers and participants at the event explored the national and European legal framework, practical aspects of insolvency proceedings, the role of the court, the interaction between the insolvency administrator, the company and its creditors and the rights and obligations of creditors. In this context, Mahir Tutulli, President of the Kosovan Commercial Court, first presented the Kosovan legal framework. Johannes Fritzen, Associate in the Frankfurt office of the law firm, Dentons, and member of the “Restructuring and Insolvency” practice group, then gave the participants an insight into German insolvency law and important aspects of international insolvency proceedings.

Seminar on “Anti-Money Laundering”

IRZ and the Judicial Academy organised another hybrid seminar on money laundering issues on 1-2 December 2022. The event was attended by three judges and six prosecutors. Prof Dr Mohamad El-Ghazi, Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law at the University of Trier and Director of the Trier Institute for Money Laundering and Corruption Criminal Law; Prof Dr Till Zimmermann, Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law including European and international references at the University of Trier, and Managing Director of the Trier Institute for Money Laundering and Corruption Criminal Law; and Prof Dr Kilian Wegner, junior professor for criminal law attended for the IRZ.

The main discussion topics included:

  • Money laundering as a crime associated with organised crime
  • The seizure and confiscation of the proceeds of crime
  • Procedural obstacles to the prosecution of money laundering
  • Possible alternatives to traditional money laundering
  • Relationship between predicate offence and money laundering
  • The role of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in combating money laundering
  • Criminal penalties in the area of money laundering
  • Issues of mutual legal assistance and international cooperation in money laundering investigations.

Behar Xhema, Deputy Director of the Kosovan Financial Intelligence Unit, and Valon Kurtaj, Judge at the Court of First Instance in Pristina, started by presenting the national legal framework and numerous examples from Kosovan practice for the various points on the agenda. The speakers and attendees then jointly identified the similarities, differences, current challenges and international best practices.

The Federal Foreign Office financed both events and participated as part of the project “Support for several states in the Western Balkans in consolidating rule of law and European standards”.

The aim of the seminars, which are organised in collaboration with the Kosovo Judicial Academy, is to share and extend the knowledge and skills among the participants. In addition, legal education and training in Kosovo should increasingly be based on European standards in terms of designing curricula, the capacities and quality of the teaching methods, academic content and teaching staff.

Cooperation with the Kosovo Judicial Academy on the issues of legal education and training will therefore also be the focus of project work in Kosovo in 2023.

9th Steering Committee Meeting of the “EUKOJUST” project in Pristina

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Published: March 7, 2023
Presentation of the project film as part of the 9th Steering Committee Meeting of the EUKOJUST project. On the screen is Albulena Haxhiu, Minister of Justice of Kosovo.
Presentation of the project film as part of the 9th Steering Committee Meeting of the EUKOJUST project. On the screen is Albulena Haxhiu, Minister of Justice of Kosovo.
Kosovo

The EU “EUKOJUST” project heralded the last third of the entire project: the last third of the project was launched in January 2023, marked by the regular Steering Committee meeting, which was held for the 9th year on 25 January 2023.

This time, as in previous years, the highest-ranking officers of the Kosovan Judiciary attended this Steering Committee meeting:

  • Blerim Sallahu, Deputy Minister of Justice
  • Albert Zogaj, Chair of the Judicial Council
  • Veton Shabani, Vice Chair of the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council
  • Enver Fejzullahu, Director of the Kosovo Judicial Academy
  • Valdete Daka, Acting President of the Supreme Court
  • Mentor Borovci, Head of the Legal Office of the Prime Minister's Office

Nicola Scaramuzzo, Team Leader of the EU office in Kosovo; the Deputy German Ambassador Matthias Conrad; the project team led by Volkmar Theobald and representatives of other institutions; the sponsors; the IRZ; and the consortium partners also participated.

Current developments

The participation of the actors was unusual this particular time, as relations between the Kosovan government on the one hand and the judiciary representatives and bodies on the other had been troubled in the several weeks previously.

In response to a government decision in November 2022, which included reducing the salaries of all judges and public prosecutors, the latter largely halted all cooperation with the Ministry. The initial strikes in courts and public prosecutor's offices were called off after a short while, but any constructive cooperation between the executive and the judiciary, notably in terms of urgent judicial reforms, was impossible.

This situation posed a challenge to maintaining a functioning judiciary in the country and also created difficulties in the implementation of the project. Targeted and coordinated cooperation between all actors in the judiciary is a key prerequisite for effective implementation of the national judicial reform strategy to which Kosovo is committed. The aim of the project is to “institutionalise” this cooperation and relies on the active participation of all the stakeholders.

The tense situation was discussed at the 9th Steering Committee Meeting. Fortunately, the representatives of the two councils welcomed a relaxation of the situation to enable the joint reforms to proceed on a secure basis.

IRZ and the project partners CILC and the Croatian Ministry of Justice and Administration, will promote this cooperation even more vigorously in Q2 2023 and support the institutionalisation of such.

Visit of the Kosovo Judiciary and Public Prosecutor's Office in Bonn

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Published: February 27, 2023
Expert talk at the Bonn Public Prosecutor's Office as part of the study trip for Kosovan judges and Public Prosecutors from 12–16 December 2022 in Bonn.
Expert talk at the Bonn Public Prosecutor's Office as part of the study trip for Kosovan judges and Public Prosecutors from 12–16 December 2022 in Bonn.
Kosovo

A delegation of 22 Kosovar judges, prosecutors and public prosecutors and representatives of the Kosovo Judicial Academy received some practical insights into the working methods of German courts and public prosecutor's offices from 12–16 December 2022.

The aim was also to establish a professional and exchange of experience with German colleagues and thus strengthen contacts between the institutions. The focus was on the area of the general jurisdiction of the ordinary courts.

During the study trip, the delegation exchanged views with judges from the Cologne Higher Regional Court on the structure and role of the general jurisdiction of the ordinary courts, German civil procedural law, the basics of family court proceedings and the possibilities of alternative dispute resolution in Germany. These topics were of particular interest to the participants in view of current efforts to reform Kosovo's civil procedural law based on the German model.

The delegation gained further practical experience during a visit to the Regional and Local Court in Bonn. After being welcomed by Dr Stefan Weismann, the President of the Regional Court, the delegation attended various court hearings in criminal matters. This was followed by a detailed discussion with a judge from the Regional Court, during which the participants asked specific questions about the course of the proceedings and the judicial proceedings. After a guided tour of the court museum, the delegation received an introduction to German criminal procedure law.

Another highlight of the study trip was the visit to the Bonn Public Prosecutor's Office. Here, the delegation received a comprehensive insight into the role, tasks and organisation of the Public Prosecutor's Office in Germany and information about the training and job description of a public prosecutor. Another focus of the expert exchange was on the field of international legal assistance.

The three-day study trip was characterised by intensive discussions and lively expert exchanges. The active participation of the participants once again confirmed the great interest and importance of the German-Kosovan expert exchange of experiences.

The event was funded by the Federal Foreign Office to support the project “Support for several states in the Western Balkans in consolidating rule of law and European standards”. The cooperation with the Kosovo Judicial Academy will be continued and expanded in 2023.