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A new translation of the German Criminal Code into Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian has been published by the IRZ, with an introduction written by the Research Director at the Institute for Eastern Law in Regensburg, Prof. Dr Dres. h.c. Friedrich-Christian Schroeder.
The book is part of a series of publications with translations of German laws into the languages of the partner states in South Eastern Europe, which are intended to strengthen the role of German law as an orientation law in legal transformation. The Minister of Justice of Northern Macedonia, Prof. Dr. Nikola Tupancheski, himself a professor of criminal law and a member of the local expert commission for the reform of the criminal code until he took office, recently confirmed the important role of the publication.
The translations are not only used to inform groups of experts working on draft reform laws, but are also used by scholars researching on comparative law, practitioners working across borders and students. They are also a popular tool for learning German legal terminology.
On 24 February 2022, the introductory meeting took place as part of the new format "supported language tandem", through which the IRZ would like to support law students from Germany and the Western Balkans to learn the legal vocabulary in the language of the respective tandem partner. This measure complements events such as the course in German legal terminology for German-speaking Serbian lawyers in Belgrade, which the IRZ has provided for the last 15 years.
The participants of the introductory meeting consisted of German-speaking prospective lawyers from the faculty of law in Novi Sad and law students from Germany, the latter having knowledge of Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian due to their family background.
What all the participants have in common is that they want to improve their verbal interactions and their knowledge of legal vocabulary in the other language. The language tandems are intended to support both sets of attendees. They take place in cross-border groups of two, in which the languages are spoken separately and in equal proportions. In addition to the bilateral meetings, the IRZ will offer participants further joint workshops at irregular intervals to exchange experiences.
The welcome address was given by Sloboda Midorović, Assistant Professor at the faculty of law in Novi Sad, and Dr. Stefan Pürner, Head of Division "South Eastern Europe I" at the IRZ. Finally, Nina Radojičić and Till Voges, both currently employed in the "South Eastern Europe I" department at the IRZ, presented the notes of the content regarding the language tandems. The participants got to know each other through an online introduction group and were organised in language tandems based on their areas of legal expertise.
Participants will learn more about foreign-language legal terminology in the future, and thus acquire a key qualification for bilateral legal transactions, which will also assist European integration.
Professor Udo Steiner, former Federal Constitutional Court judge, during his presentation. Serbia – IRZ-Alumni
The annual workshop for German-speaking IRZ alumni in South East Europe took place online again on 14 December 2021. The decision of the Federal Constitutional Court on climate protection was a particular focus of the event.
Alumni of various IRZ programs have been meeting late in the year for some time now. The meeting once again included lawyers, judges, public prosecutors and notaries who have previously attended summer schools in German law, profession-specific internships in Germany and courses in German legal terminology. They valued the opportunity to learn about current developments in German law and used the meeting to engage in some intensive expert discussions in German. They were also able to expand their own professional network.
This event took place in Belgrade in previous years, but was moved into the digital sphere for the second time due to the pandemic.
The 2021 annual workshop was opened by Sonya Z. Ouertani, the IRZ project manager responsible for Serbia, followed by welcoming speeches by Daniel Mohseni, second secretary and political adviser to the German embassy in Belgrade. He emphasised the topicality of "climate protection", also with respect to the new 2021 coalition agreement of the governing parties in Germany.
Professor Udo Steiner, former Federal Constitutional Court judge, presented the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court of 29 April 2021 on climate protection. It aroused interest among the predominantly younger participants, mainly because it addressed the guaranteed protections under objective law, also in terms of future generations.
This presentation and subsequent discussion was followed by information on innovations in German law, presented by Dr. Stefan Pürner, Head of "South East Europe I" at the IRZ, which includes the participating countries Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Dr. Pürner also referred to sources on the Internet that detailed the innovations in German law. These are also available outside Germany to enable participants themselves to pursue the topics addressed.
The event therefore once again offered the opportunity to learn more about current developments in German law, to use German legal terminology actively and passively, and to train key qualifications for legal processes and transactions between the countries of origin of the participants and Germany in the context of Euro
