Strong partners of the IRZ: the judiciary of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Republic of Moldova
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- Published: September 8, 2025
The judiciary in North Rhine-Westphalia has traditionally been a close and reliable partner for us in implementing numerous consultations in our partner countries. In the Republic of Moldova, this is particularly true in the area of administrative justice, where experts from North Rhine-Westphalia have been facilitating active exchange for many years.
This was reason enough for a joint delegation trip by IRZ and the NRW Ministry of Justice to the Republic of Moldova at the beginning of September, led by the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of Justice, Dr Benjamin Limbach, and IRZ's General Director, Alexandra Albrecht. The trip focused on topics such as the status of judicial reforms and the development of the rule of law. In joint discussions with Moldovan Minister of Justice Veronica Mihailov-Moraru and members of the Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee, representatives of the National Institute of Justice, the Supreme Court and the Supreme Judicial Council, experiences were exchanged, specific needs were identified and new ideas for cooperation were developed.
In addition, close cooperation in administrative justice was further strengthened by the agreement of a court partnership between the Moldovan Court of Appeal Centre in Chişinău and the Administrative Court of Cologne. The President of the Administrative Court of Cologne, Birgit Herkelmann-Mrowka, and the Interim President of the Court of Appeal in Chişinău, Ghenadie Mîra, thus reaffirm the exchange between North Rhine-Westphalia and the Republic of Moldova, which has been in place for some time. The court partnership is designed for long-term exchange and serves to promote the practical implementation of the Republic of Moldova's new Administrative Code, the drafting and implementation of which the IRZ has supported significantly from the outset.
Minister Dr Benjamin Limbach said: "With the new court partnership, we are supporting Moldova in establishing a transparent and fair judicial system based on the rule of law. Court partnerships are an effective tool for strengthening and consolidating the rule of law because they enable direct exchange at a technical and institutional level. They help to address and resolve very practical issues that arise in everyday court life through personal contact. This creates a cooperation that promotes the EU accession process and embodies the European idea."
You can find further press releases here from the NRW Ministry of Justice https://www.justiz.nrw.de/presse/2025-09-01-2, https://www.justiz.nrw.de/presse/2025-09-03, and from the Moldovan Ministry of Justice.