Delegation from the Association of Judges attends expert talks on investigative judges in Bonn
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- Published: June 19, 2019

On 12 and 13 June 2019, a delegation of ten members of the Ukrainian Association of Judges, led by its President Olena Yevtushenko, was invited by the IRZ to Bonn on a working visit to discuss investigative judges.
The IRZ, in partnership with the Ukrainian Association of Judges, regularly organises training sessions for judges. These events are usually held in various regions of Ukraine, but there are also some working visits to Germany. The working visits regularly focus on issues of current interest. On this occasion, the focus was on the role of investigative judges. Ten judges from district and appeal courts in Kiev, Lviv, Chernivtsi and Mukachevo benefited from intense expert discussions on this subject.
At the start of the visit, the Ukrainian guests were welcomed to the IRZ offices by Dr. Frauke Bachler, IRZ Managing Director, Dr. Stefan Weismann, President of the Regional Court of Bonn, and Gabriele Wester, Deputy Director of the Local Court of Bonn. This was followed by extensive expert talks with Dr. Jan Kraus, a judge at the Local Court of Königswinter, who worked for many years as an investigative judge. Based on the comprehensive list of questions previously submitted by the Ukrainian partners, Dr. Kraus talked about how investigation proceedings work and explained the procedural principles and different investigation measures, as well as focussing on the prerequisites for a detention order for custody awaiting trial.
On the afternoon of the first day of the visit, Bernd-Günter König, a former Senior Public Prosecutor, explained how public prosecutors and the police work together in investigation proceedings.
On the following day, the Ukrainian judges visited the Regional Court of Bonn to gain an insight into court practices. There they followed the trial of a criminal case and enforcement proceedings, which they were then able to discuss afterwards with the Presiding Judge.