As part of an online seminar hosted by the Kosovan Academy of Justice, IRZ organised an expert discussion on the fight against money laundering on 2 June 2021. The German-Kosovan exchange of experiences took place on the second day of the event with the participation of around 25 Kosovan judges and public prosecutors.
In the context of financial liberalisation and growing transnational crime, the fight against money laundering has cross-border significance. Dealing effectively with money laundering on a global scale also requires an intensive and continuous exchange of expertise between legal practitioners.
In this context, the event continued the exchange of experiences on the fight against money laundering, which had begun in 2020 in cooperation with the Kosovan Academy of Justice. Senior Public Prosecutor Wolf-Tilman Baumert and Public Prosecutor Christian Müller, both from the Wuppertal Public Prosecutor's Office, took part in the discussion as IRZ experts. In particular, they presented the amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act, which came into force in March 2021 to regulate money laundering offences in Germany. The event also focussed on the following topics:
acquisition offences and types of money laundering crimes
the tracing of defrauded assets
the return of incriminated assets / confiscation orders
mutual legal assistance and international cooperation in money laundering investigations
The Kosovan participants in the discussions were Valon Kurtaj, a judge at the Court of First Instance in Pristina, and Behar Xhema, deputy director of the Kosovan Financial Intelligence Unit, leading to a lively legal comparison and mutual exchange of expertise and experience.
The event was financed by the German Foreign Office. IRZ plans to continue its cooperation with the Academy of Justice in this area and to cover further important subjects in the area of criminal law and the prison system.
During the last quarter of 2020, the cooperation between IRZ and the Ministry of Justice of Kosovo concentrated on the areas of probation services and prison management. The main focus was on how the relevant authorities work together to provide probation services, the explanation of the advantages of suspended sentencing with probation, and the specific issues surrounding juvenile detention. IRZ has also succeeded in using the online format to expand on the existing trusting working relationship, which pays particular attention to the area of juvenile criminal law.
In cooperation with the department for probation services and regional probation offices, three separate online round table discussions were held with different participant groups in the regions of Pristina, Prizren and Mitrovica. These events allowed for a broad exchange of experiences and also took the regional particularities in Kosovo into account. The round table discussions covered the following topics, amongst others:
the function and role of probation
specific features of the application of probation in juvenile criminal law
the supervision of probation in practice: cooperation between judges, public prosecutors and probation services
IRZ was represented by the following experts from the relevant professional groups:
Alexander Conrad, a judge at the Local Court of Oberhausen
Michael Grunwald, a senior public prosecutor at the Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office
Stefan Thier from the department of social services for justice, support for ex-offenders and accommodation offering therapy at the Ministry of Justice, Europe and Consumer Protection for the state of Schleswig-Holstein
This combination of experts led to a comprehensive, detailed and practice-oriented exchange with Kosovan colleagues.
Online seminars on “young people in the prison system”
At the express request of the department for prison management at the Ministry of Justice of Kosovo, two online seminars were held on “Dealing with young drug addicts” and “Dealing with young people with psychiatric problems”.
Both events were led by an experienced team of experts appointed by IRZ:
Katja Liebmann, Head of social therapy at the largest juvenile detention centre in Germany at Hameln,
Siegfried Löprick, Chairman of the youth welfare service, Jugendhilfe Göttingen e.V., with many years of experience in working with the prison management system in Kosovo.
Both seminars featured an open exchange involving all participants and lively, comprehensive discussions.
During the seminar with Brigitte Koppenhöfer (right at the front), former Presiding Judge at the Regional Court of Düsseldorf, and Dr. Thomas Matusche (on her left), former President of the Local Court of Hann. Münden, and now President of the Law Students Examination Authority (Justizprüfungsamt) for the Lower Saxony region. Kosovo
On 9 and 10 September 2019 the IRZ, in cooperation with the Kosovo Academy of Justice and UNICEF, organised a two-day seminar on “Protective Measures for Minor Victims and Witnesses of Criminal Offences”. The event enabled an exchange of experiences based on European guidelines and was aimed at making a contribution towards more child-friendliness in the justice system of the Republic of Kosovo. The German speakers at the seminar were:
Brigitte Koppenhöfer, former Presiding Judge at the Regional Court of Düsseldorf and
Dr. Thomas Matusche, former President of the Local Court of Hann. Münden, and now President of the Law Students Examination Authority (Justizprüfungsamt) for the Lower Saxony region.
The event was aimed at practitioners in the field of the Kosovan juvenile criminal law. The first seminar day was attended by judges and public prosecutors who discussed the following topics:
Definition of the term “minor victims and witnesses”;
European guidelines;
a room for witnesses;
exclusion of the public and/or the accused;
video hearing;
information and participation rights and
psychosocial victim support
On the second seminar day, probation officers and members of the youth court assistance service exchanged their experiences, focusing on the following topics:
Function of the youth court assistance service/probation service in investigation proceedings and court proceedings involving young people;
function in the enforcement of judgements;
reports on the social settings;
cooperation between the probation service, judges and public prosecutors.
The event met with great interest among the participants. It became apparent that a child-friendly justice system is still a topical and relevant issue. On both seminar days, the participants exchanged their experiences with this topic in working groups and engaged in lively discussions on different suggestions for improvement with the IRZ experts. They identified potentials for practical advancements in the jurisdiction with juvenile victims and witnesses and in the probation service.
The participants had a lively exchange of opinions and were able to extend their expertise in protective measures for minor victims and witnesses of criminal offences, thus gaining many new perspectives on the topic.
