The participants of the working visit to Bonn am Rhein. Montenegro
A working visit of a 20-person delegation of judges took place at the Bonn Regional Court from 24-28 September 2023 as part of the measures on judicial hearings funded by the Federal Foreign Office, which the IRZ organised in cooperation with the Training Centre for the Montenegrin Judiciary and Public Prosecutor's Office.
Dr. Frauke Bachler, General Director of the IRZ, introduced the participants on the first day of the event, and attendees then engaged in an extensive expert programme which, in addition to lectures on the basic principles of civil and criminal procedural law in Germany, also included two educational films produced by the IRZ itself on juvenile court proceedings in Germany and judicial support for settlements in civil proceedings. The films also featured contributions from experts from the IRZ's Southeast European partner states, and are available either dubbed or with subtitles in the visitors' own languages.
The IRZ also provided participants with extensive translations of German laws, including the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Criminal Code, and publications in the Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian languages that had been produced as part of other IRZ measures. The range of materials was completed by a translation in the respective national languages of the participants of the relevant German law, which was created in cooperation with the Association of German Legal Officers, with an expert introduction and literature on the official assessment of judges. This enabled the participants themselves to explore the topic in more depth.
The programme was rounded off by visits to civil and criminal court hearings at the Bonn Regional Court and presentations and discussions with German colleagues.
The mediators from Montenegro in front of the IHK Frankfurt/Main Montenegro
“Business mediation” was the topic of a working visit to Frankfurt am Main from 14-17 November 2022, the Federal Ministry of Justice (BMJ) and IRZ invited a group of Montenegrin mediators to attend. This project was supported by the Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution in Montenegro and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) Frankfurt am Main, which hosted the training courses.
The participants work as instructors in mediation in their home country and the IHK in Frankfurt am Main also provides mediator training courses. The three-day working meeting therefore consisted of presentations, discussion rounds and roleplay sessions, led by the lawyer Prof Dr Renate Dendorfer-Ditges and lawyer and solicitor (England & Wales) Anke Beyer.
Combination of face-to-face and online elements
The face-to-face elements were supplemented by an online presence where the most important players in mediation in Germany were able to present their activities. The focus here was quality assurance and how to deal with difficult situations in mediation.
The legal-political dimension of the event
The participants therefore gained a comprehensive insight into mediation in Germany and many recommendations for their own practical work, which will help to implement Directive 2008/52/EC on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters in Montenegro. The event contributes to the effective resolution of legal disputes, which is also the subject of the cooperation agreement between the Montenegro Ministry of Justice, the founder of the Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution of Montenegro, and the Federal Ministry of Justice.
On 23 June 2022, the IRZ introduced its new educational film, “How judges can accelerate civil proceedings through active procedural management and supporting settlements” at a two-day event on civil procedure law at the Judicial Training Centre in Montenegro.
The film gives judges a direct insight into German legal practice and therefore starts with a recording of an introduction to the facts of the case and the matters at issue and the subsequent successful settlement negotiations in a German Civil court.
The overlayed texts and translations of the pertinent Sections 138 and 278 of the German Civil Code during the film’s opening and closing credits round off the film’s informational content.
In the ensuing interviews, a Professor of Civil Law from Serbia as well as Macedonian and Montenegrin participants in earlier working visits to Germany share their personal impressions of German legal practice and its implementability in their own national legislation.
The discussion after the presentation of the film showed that films like this are an excellent means of stimulating intensive professional discussions.
Project support from the Foreign Office enables the IRZ educational film to be made. The following were all involved in the project: Cologne Regional Court, the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors, “Pavel Shatev” in North Macedonia and the centre for training judges and public prosecutors in Montenegro.
The IRZ will use the educational film in future events and has also made it available on its homepage at “Media centre – Training films” in order to reach as large an audience as possible. The film is also available in Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian and Macedonian.
